


The Baleful Bewitching of Webby Vanderquack!

by NotPonytailsorCottontails



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), Disney Duck Universe, Disney Ducks (Comics), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), Goof Troop (Cartoon), Gravity Falls
Genre: Abduction, Aftermath of Torture, Age Regression/De-Aging, Bodyswap, Child Abuse, Crimes & Criminals, Dark, Dehumanization, Drama, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Manipulation, Gaslighting, Gen, Harm to Children, Horror, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 138,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24202258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotPonytailsorCottontails/pseuds/NotPonytailsorCottontails
Summary: In hopes of finally getting her grim vengeance against Scrooge McDuck and his family, Magica De Spell forms a small team of villains in order to kidnap Webby and force her into becoming her 'puppet', linking together a dark chain of events that will ultimately affect the very future of Clan McDuck forever. (A story about overcoming abuse and trauma, 2017 Series/DuckTales Dark Fic)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 31





	1. De SpellTales!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The following story discusses particularly sensitive and mature subjects. Although everything is safe within a T rated fanfic, more sensitive readers may find some moments frightening or disturbing to a great extent.
> 
> To be clear, this story was NOT written to be dark and disturbing just for the shock value. Minor spoilers. The point of this fic is to show how traumatic experiences can effect someone's personality and their view on life.
> 
> And also, this is a horror fic.
> 
> Seriously, this fanfic is a lot darker than the usual DuckTales fare. If you're not sure if you can handle a more mature story, please don't read this.

Out of all of Scrooge McDuck's enemies, the Sorceress of the Shadows herself, Magica De Spell, was considered by many to be his greatest for many reasons.

Sure, Flintheart Glomgold dedicated his whole life and soul to besting Scrooge and one-uping him whenever possible. But his complexity addiction and overall pettiness kept him from actually doing significant damage to his business rival's life. If anything, Scrooge mostly considered him just a pesky annoyance.

Magica on the other hand was a completely different story. Originating from a centuries-old blood feud their families started before they were even hatched, she and Scrooge had been locked into a violent clash against each other for many decades. And she was more than willing to carry out her ancester's wrath.

Thankfully, the poor citizens of Duckburg didn't have to live in fear of Magica's persistent spell casting and curses against them for too long. Fifthteen years ago, Scrooge and Magica fought a bitter battle atop her volcano lair of Mount Vesuvius. With the lunar eclipse at hand, increasing her magical powers by an exceedingly large amount, she intended to seal Scrooge McDuck into his most prized possession, his Number One Dime. A perfect ironic hell.

Unfortunately for Magica, Scrooge was able to reflect her spell back at her, resulting in her sealing herself inside his dime. Yet, this was not the end for the Shadow Queen's reign over Mount Vesuvius and the shadow realm. As right before she was completely sealed away forever, Magica cast a spell over own shadow, bringing to life a young teenager which she promptly named, Lena.

With Lena carrying her source of powers, and herself as her living shadow, Magica assumed the role of master over her puppet.

Although Magica was technically Lena's mother, she asserted herself as her aunt. And it made perfect sense. With her as the aunt in power, Magica could control and order Lena around without getting into a close mother daughter relationship.

Magica's plan of revenge, while not simple, did eventually work. Fifthteen years after her and Scrooge's battle, Lena, who had been cursed to be unable to age, met up with Scrooge's housekeeper's young granddaughter, Webby Vanderquack.

Magica intended for Lena to pretend to be Webby's friend in order to get close enough to Scrooge to steal his Number One Dime and regain her body with the power of the upcoming lunar eclipse.

Definitely not according to plan though, Lena had grown close to Webby and didn't want to continue to manipulate her anymore. After a traumatic nightmare of Webby's death at her own aunt's hands, Lena decided to come clean about Magica and her own origin.

But thanks to the nearing lunar eclipse, Magica grew strong enough to completely possess Lena's body and took the role of stealing Scrooge's dime herself. Much to Lena's dismay.

Fast forward two weeks, after several sleepless nights in Lena's body, not to mention invading her personal space way more than usual. Magica was finally ready to regain her old body.

And she did.

With a maniacal laugh and incantation she had prepared for over a decade, the Shadow Queen had finally returned to fulfill her grim vengeance upon clan McDuck. After successfully sealing Scrooge inside his Number One Dime and pulling Lena back into her shadow, Magica began her attack on a unsuspecting Duckburg.

An attack that surprisingly didn't last that long, as Scrooge's friends and family quickly came to his rescue, resulting with Magica losing most of her powers. Significantly making her less of a threat than usual.

Yet, this loss of power still didn't discourage Magica from the grim vengeance she craved.

After failing to get Lena back on her side and getting at Scrooge through Glomgold, Magica came to a certain realization. It was not Scrooge himself keeping her from wiping out all of clan McDuck, and it didn't take long for her to plan out her next act of vengeance...

* * *

Deep within the walls of Doofus Drake's treehouse mansion in the wealthy part of Duckburg, four particularly malicious figures stood around a large bubbling cauldron with a ominous pentagram drawn underneath it. A magical red glow illuminated the dark corners of the room along with several lit candles that danced dim light across the walls.

"Dragon's tooth... "A shadowy figure held her open hand behind her back.

After five seconds of complete silence, the figure began to raise her voice.

"Drag-on's TOOTH!"

After another five seconds of ignored demands, the figure spun around to see her incompetent teammate admirimg the large incisor in his gloved hands.

"How do you suppose those guys kept these babies so clean?" A tall beagle boy in black clothing wondered aloud, completely unaware of his orders. A sharp slap to the back of his head quickly knocked him back into reality.

"OW! What was that FOR?!" He turned around to see his disapproving mother glaring angrily at him.

"Give, her, the tooth." Ma Beagle pointed past her son at an impatient sorceress standing in front of the cauldron.

"Sorry..."

The moody sorceress snatched the tooth from out of his hands and dropped into the boiling red liquid. It dissolved almost instantly.

"Hmph. If it wasn't for your vast knowledge of magic, you'd be nothing but a worthless pawn to me."

The sorceress looked back at her list and crudely checked off 'dragon's tooth'.

"Werewolf hair..."

"Riiight here..." The billionaire child Doofus Drake emotionlessly walked up to the cauldron with the discolored hair and smelled it.

"Ahhhh. It reminds me of my dear little Mister Wagglesworth. He was such a funny little creature."

"One time, he got a terrible cold, so I put him in the microwave..."

Both Ma Beagle and Black Arts stared silently at Doofus in shock while the sorceress simply dropped the hair into the cauldron.

"I don't think he liked it very much..."

The shadowy figure excitedly paced past Ma Beagle and her son while reviewing her list.

"You know, I think I'm starting to like this kid."

Ma Beagle groaned. "All I knew was that he was some reclusive rich kid that antagonized one of Scrooge's brats over a month ago."

"But so far, all that he proved was that he won't be winning any pet owner of the year awards..."

"Like you said." The sorceress looked up from her list. "He is an almost infinite source of funds and resources. Not forgetting the conveniently haunted mansion that we can use for a hideout."

The figure walked up to her bubbling cauldron and cleared her sore throat.

"Ahem!... Skulls!"

"...One order of skulls, comin' up." A particularly deep and menacing voice emanated from one of the dark, shadowy corners of the room.

It only took a couple of seconds for a masked figure in a cape and torn hat to emerge from the inky black darkness. In his hands he held three empty skulls, recently separated from their lifeless bodies. The figure couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself, holding literal symbols of death itself in his grasp.

The shadowy sorceress scooped up her final ingredients and looked them over.

"Thanks Jim darling." The sorceress gave her gratitude to her masked companion.

"Hey, no trouble at all... Magica." The former acter gave a sharp toothy smile with a look of unfettered insanity on his face.

As soon as Magica dropped the skulls into the cauldron, a thick red smoke immediately filled the room. The powerful stench of blood and death leaked out into the rest of the mansion. Jim took a deep breath and let the foul smog enter his lungs.

"Ahhhh. It reminds me of-"

"Don't, tell us..." Ma Beagle simply interrupted.

"Yes! YES! It's working! It's working!" Magica leaped into to the air in excitement.

"The spell is finally ready!"

"Great. Now what?" Ma Beagle asked in a sarcastic manor.

Magica just silently laughed to herself. "Allow me to show you..."

"Black Arts! My wand."

The sorceress grasped a small black wand away from the beagle boy and dipped into the boiling blood. After the tip of it starting burning, Magica waved it in the air and began her incantation.

"O great Morning Star."

"High in the dark sky so far."

"Lend me the powers that I lack."

"So that I may subdue my foe, Webby Vanderquack!"

"ABRA! DUCKABRA!"

As soon as she finished the incantation, a pillar of red magical power erupted for the cauldron and flew threw the roof. After creating a massive red storm cloud above Duckburg, the huge mass of magical energy shot back down into the mansion and consumed Magica in smoke. Both Ma Beagle and Black Arts backed away in fear as Jim and Doofus just closed their eyes, enjoying the smell of werewolf hair and death in the air.

"Ma. I believe Magica is messing with powers that even she cannot comprehend..."

"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Magica laughed loudly from inside the smoke. After all the magical smog had finally merged into her body, the sorceress took a step out of the darkness, revealing herself as nothing but a rotting skeleton in a dress and cape. Although her flesh and feathers where lost in the inferno, her eyes sat perfectly intact in her empty skull.

"BEHOLD! In my wand, liiees the strength, to fracture the COSMOS!"

Thunder crashed in the sky as reality itself was almost ripped apart by Magica's mere stare.

"I will make the worlds tremble at my slightest scowl!"

"Yes little Vanderquack! Quiver in fear! For I am Magica De Spell! Your worst nightmare..."

"Well, what do you think?" The skeleton sorceress turned around to her lackeys.

"...You remind me of my dear sweet Gummeemama when they put her in the ground." Doofus finally spoke up.

"Of course, she was much less lively..."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Magica looked over her slender skeleton figure.

"So, uh, what was that about Webby again?" Ma Begale walked up to the undead witch.

"...Ah yes, Webby Vanderquack." Magica began. "A name I won't forget for as long as I live."

"Uh, but you're not alive." Ma Beagle corrected her.

"Technicalities. Now! Webby Vanderquack." Magica shivered.

"That pesky brat has constantly foiled my plans against Scrooge McDuck! Her commitment to that old duck and his pathetic family, irks me."

"If it wasn't for her, Lena wouldn't have betrayed me and stolen my powers. Leaving her aunt, with NO POSSIBLE WAY, TO WIPE OUT CLAN MCDUUUCK!"

Magica's screams of rage echoed throughout the room.

"But, I have a plan. A plan that will annihilate Scrooge and his family. And it involves that little pink one known as Webby."

"Heh... She thinks she's soooo strong and smaaaart, invincible from the horrors I have to offer."

"So, what's the plan? Is it complicated?" Ma Beagle asked.

"Oh, no no no no. It's not complicated at all. It's quite simple really. We kidnap the little brat and drag her back here. Force her into becoming my obedient slave, while torturing and humiliating her in the process. And then, order her to kill off Scrooge McDuck's friends and family while he watches helplessly from within his Number One Dime! Any questions?"

Ma Beagle and Black Arts just stared at Magica, while Doofus and Jim seemed pretty okay with the plan.

"...And you get the deed to Duckburg, while Doofus here gets his 'precious'. And then Jim gets... What was it that you wanted, again?"

"Wanton, mindless destruction!" Jim proudly announced.

"Well, this definitely counts."

Magica walked over to a table and placed an antique crystal ball on it.

"Now, before we invade McDuck Manor and take the girl, we have to make sure that they're actually home and not on some death defying adventure."

"Crystal ball!" The sorceress began. "Show me, Webby Vanderquack!"

Soon after the fog inside the magical artifact faded away, a clear view of Webby inside the mansion illuminated the room. A view which made both Ma Beagle and Black Arts cringe in disgust.

"Yep, she's definitely home..." Ma Beagle covered her son's eyes.

"Just look at her." Magica relaxed.

"Completely oblivious of her upcoming doom."

"I've seen enough thank you." Ma Beagle pulled her speechless son away from the table while Doofus and Jim continued to watch the child through the crystal ball.

"Hmmm... She's a lot smaller than my past ones." Doofus adjusted his thick glasses.

"Oh well. What's the harm with a smaller one this time..."

"Oopsy!" Magica chuckled to herself. "We're forgetting a teammate. We have a Webby, three triplets, a Violet Sabrewing, but no Lena. Let, me, think..."

"Yes! YES! It's perfect! Magica, you're such an evil genius."

"Ahem."

"From the world of darkness and shadows I did loose demons in the name of Circe to torment clan McDuck! But with my new, special powers. I shall bring back the soul of my greatest idol!"

"I, Magica De Spell! The last disciple of Circe, call forth, the goddess of magic!"

"HOCUS! PORKUS!"


	2. Snatched Away!

"Mission log, two-hundred and seventy."

"The time. Fifteen-hundred hours."

"The year. Twenty-thirty one."

"The place. Area fifty-one Duckvada. Currently in ruins from the recent zombie outbreak."

"This is Colonel Turbo Shelduck. Our mission... Destroy the mutant alien zombie queen. Her forces have already taken out ninety eight percent of the earth's population. Our last emergency bunkers have been invaded by her ever-growing army. If we don't take out the source of their power, the armies of the undead will march all over the face of the planet."

"We are humanity's, last hope..."

Dewey shed a lonely tear and dramatically finished the last of his monologue into his recorder.

"Uhh. You know it's not on, right?" Louie walked up to his brother with a dart gun in hand.

Dewey opened his eyes and looked over the recorder.

BEEP!

"Mission log! Two-hundred and seventy!"

The colonel heroically approached the lair of the beast.

"The time! Fifteen-hundred hours!"

"The year!..."

Dragging his empty dart gun behind him, Louie rolled his eyes and followed the overeager officer into the dark hallway.

"This is Colonel Turbo Shelduck! Our mission..." Dewey stopped marching to record.

"Destroy the mutant alie- Uggahh!" His speech was interrupted as he was knocked to the floor by Louie who had accidentally walked into him.

"Watch yourself soldier! I could have easiilly blasted you into nothingness." Dewey menacingly looked up at his unmotivated brother.

"Oh boy. I'm going to spend time with Huey. His nerd stuff is much less stressful." Louie left his brother on the floor.

"Sure... Run away now while everything seems clear. But it won't help you. Those monsters will eventually find you. And lay their eggs in your infected, savaged brain."

"You've been watching way too many trashy horror movies. Not only are they incredibly unrealistic, but they lack any sense of self-awarement or heart. Not to mention method acting."

"Hey!" Dewey finally sat up. "When there is no more room on Mars is a CLASSIC."

"They paid the actors with DOG FOOD." Louie yelled from down the hall.

"...Man, that had to have been some HIGH quality dog food."

* * *

"I'm sorry. Why are we using guns?"

A young hummingbird followed her shadowy friend along the darkened halls of McDuck Manor.

"Real life zombies aren't remotely smart enough to use guns properly. Let alone recognize them as proper weapons."

Lena sighed. "According to Dewey, we aren't the normal, everyday zombies you read about and see on TV. We're the highly developed, mutant space zombies that gain intelligence by sucking out people's brains and knowledge."

"So, would they be actually intelligent enough to aim and pull the triggers?" Violet looked down at the dart gun in her hands.

"Well, that seems to be the case." Lena peeked out from behind a corner.

Hearing this, Violet preped her dart gun.

"Let's trash those earth-"

"GOTCHA!" Dewey jumped from out of nowhere and tackled Violet to the groud. Sitting on top of her, he pointed his dart gun at her face.

"Ha-ha! Begone space scum! You monsters don't belong in this world!"

"Space... WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Penumbra suddenly ran up to Dewey and grabbed him by the foot. Holding him upside down, the moonlander's face was only inches away from his.

"Hey aunt Penny." Dewey waved.

"I'm sorry, was that offensive, or?"

"My name is Lieutenant, PENUMBRA!"

"Yo! Penny! I see you're getting along great with the kids." Della walked up to her alien roommate. She gasped in shock when she saw her son hanging upside down.

"No. Way..."

"Penny used to hold me like this too! Oh man! That sudden rush of blood flowin' into your head really gets you going! Ha-ha!"

"...I'm going to bed."

An exhausted Penumbra lightly tossed the child into his mother's arms and walked away.

"I'd appreciate it if you obstreperous earthdwellers would KEEP IT DOWN!" Penumbra slamed the bedroom door behind her.

"...SURE THING PENNY! WE'LL KEEP IT DOWN FOR YA!" Della shouted to the agitated alien.

"HEY! MAYBE LATER, WE CAN START THAT FORK BENDING CLUB I WAS TELLING YOU ABOUT!"

"RAAAAAAAAAWWWRRRGH!"

"Man. She is the best." Della unknowingly carried her son into the bathroom while Lena and Violet just shrugged.

"Uh. Mom?"

After a few seconds of complete silence, Dewey casually walked out of the bathroom to the two zombies soldiers and brushed himself off.

"Um. You two are dead now... Not the zombie dead. Dead dead."

"Dead dead?" Violet questioned.

"You know. Blasted into infinity, your chared body parts scattered across the floor dead."

"...Real life zombies have strong enough body structures not to collapse in on themselv-"

"Fine! Fine! Whatever." Dewey interrupted Violet's lecture.

"I know that I said you girls were the SMARTER than normal zombies, but there's such a thing as taking a role TOO SERIOUSLY."

After telling Violet off, Dewey valiantly entered the lair of the zombie queen.

"Prepare yourself Queen Corpsiea the Third! For I, Colonel Turbo Shelduck, will vanquish you from the earth for ending the lives of my family!"

The officer fell to his knees and shed another lonely tear.

"Viktorija... Kids..."

"I will avenge you." His voice audibly cracked.

Dewey then started silently sobbing on the floor with his dart gun tight within his grasp.

"Are, you alright?" Lena put a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"BEGONE FROM ME ALIEN SPECTER! YOU WILL NOT HAUNT ME FURTHER!"

The tormented Colonel sprung upwards and marched fearlessly ahead as loud angry knocking could be heard down the hallway.

"We should probably get Penumbra some noise cancelling earplugs." Lena whispered.

"The moonlanders don't have ears. They hear through their eyes sockets."

Violet opened up her note pad and showed Lena her research on Penumbra.

"Well! Then we'll get her, I dunno. A sleep mask or something! Sheesh!"

* * *

"This is it... The lowly Colonel, deserted by his men, faces off against the being of pure evil known as Queen Corpsiea. If he does not succeed in his mission, the world will fall into death and despair."

With his trusty blaster in hand, Dewey stepped forward into the darkness to confront his arch-enemy.

"CORPSIEA! SHOW YOURSELF YOU BEING OF TRUE HATRED!"

From within the empty blackness of the hall, the Colonel heard a low, distinct chuckle from above. A shadowy figure stirred around atop the sturdy wooden chandelier hanging from the room.

"AH-HA! Nighty night queenie."

Dewey aimed his gun at his target and fired a rapid round of darts at his enemy.

"UUGH! YOU GOT ME!" The queen clutched her chest in pain.

"OH! Everything's fading! My un-life cut short."

"Curse you... ColonelUUUUUAAHHHH!"

The defeated queen screamed realistically as she fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Dewey immediately dropped his act and ran up to his fallen friend.

"UH! Webby are you okay?!" He lifted her limp arm off the ground and shook it.

"WEBBY?!"

Hearing Webby's shrill scream, Lena, Violet, Huey and Louie rushed into the now lit hallway.

"Is everything alright?" The hummingbird asked in concern.

"I'm okay!" Webby suddenly perked up, unharmed from the high fall to the floor.

"Thank goodness!" Lena breathed a sigh of relief and tightly hugged her friend.

"If anything bad happened to you, I couldn't live with myself."

"...Lena?" Webby managed to say

"Can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry." The teenager helped Webby to her feet and lightly dusted her off.

"Okay. You guys ready for round two?" The zombie queen loaded her dart gun with a scarily ominous expression on her face, before running off into the rest of the mansion.

"WOO! Round two! Round two!" Dewey prepared his arsenal in excitement.

"Man. Webby is SUCH a great actor."

"Wait. Where's Rand- Ow." Huey began to say as he was tripped onto the floor by shadowy leg.

"Oops. Sorry nerd. Heh, didn't see you there."

A gray, preteen duck stared smugly down at the annoyed child below him.

"Randy..." Huey growled at him underneath his breath.

"What? I said I was sorry." Randy lowered his hand to help Huey up, but then quickly pulled it away before they made contact.

"Hey. Maybe you should get some glasses. It would really complete that total dork look you've got going."

Randy chuckled to himself before following Webby into hallway.

Why that dirty-!"

"Relax Hubert." Louie stopped his brother.

"He's only testing you. Seeing if your worth picking on in the longrun."

"Yeah, I have to agree with Huey on this one. Something's wrong with this guy." Lena crossed her arms in discontent.

"Where, exactly did Webby meet him again?" Dewey questioned.

"Eh! I dunno!" Lena was starting to get a little stressed.

"All that Webby told me was that they met online, and how they have SO MUCH in common."

"Mmm hhmm. Yep. I see it all now." Louie began.

"He has no distinct personality besides being the cocky arrogant dream boy that sweeps all the young girls off their feet."

"Most likely, he's manipulating her. Slowly gaining control over her free will. Forcing her to love him, and him only."

"And then..." The triplet paused.

"...I say we keep a close eye on her."

"Wait. Are you saying that Webby is in love him?!" Lena focused all her attention on Louie.

"I thought it was obvious. Have you seen the way she acts around him? It's like she was hit by a dozen of Cupid's arrows."

The teenager was stunned. "But. But I thought Webby and Dewey were... Were..."

"Uhh. Ha ha ha, No." Dewey awkwardly fidgeted.

"I think of Webby as the sister I never had. I mean, I love her. But not in that way."

Dewey paused for a bit.

"Wait. I thought YOU were in love with her."

Lena's face turned a bright shade of red as she tried to hide her obvious embarrassment.

"Ah ha ha HA! What do you think I am? Some crazed lesbo shadow teen, crushing after an adorable child at least four years younger than ME?"

"Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha! Ah ha-"

Lena looked around at her friends staring at her with mixed expressions on their faces.

"Wow. That came out wrong..."

"Wait." Louie started.

"If you're straight, does being a living shadow mean you have a working reproductive system? And also, if I marry you, will that make Magica my mother-in-law?"

Everyone stood in silence as Louie waited for his response.

"...Well this is uncomfortable." Violet finally spoke up.

"Hey. A guys gotta know these things. Grow up."

* * *

Louie's theory was not incorrect.

It was true. Webby had fallen madly in love with the young duck known as Randy Moorhen.

It had happened so quickly, she hadn't even realized she loved him until he started regularly appearing in her dreams.

She was completely obsessed with him. And Randy had her right where he wanted.

Her mind was filled to the brim with such a powerful affection for him that it clouded her better judgement and distracted her from important everyday tasks.

Yet despite her complete infatuation with her young love, it didn't distract her enough to notice that one of her bedroom windows had been smashed opened, letting the cool evening breeze blow eerily into the mansion.

An ominous red glow in the room casted dark sinister shadows across the walls and ceiling.

Fearing the worst, Webby began her way out of the bedroom.

"Uh... Guys? Something's wrong."

And then it hit her. An intense wave of depression and anxiety covered Webby like a blanket. It weighed down on her, shouting inaudible curses and hexes at her in languages she didn't understand. Yet, they still hurt her.

She was shrinking.

No...

The room was growing.

The world was spinning out of control around her. She felt her soul being torn out of her frail body, screaming at her in rage.

Ghoulish shadows closed in all around her, staring down at her on the floor. They seemed to emanate pure hate and malice that pierced her flesh and bones.

They knew her every secret. Every moment in her life up until now, they knew in great detail.

Were they judging her?

Were they going to kill her?

Did they even have faces?

Was she dying?

No. She didn't see a light.

People see light when they die. Right?

No. This was worse than death...

She had forgotten her name.

Her friends.

Her family.

Her loved ones.

They had all abandoned her...

She wanted to scream. But her voice gave out.

She couldn't move.

She couldn't hear.

She couldn't speak.

She could only wish...

She wished... That she was dead.

Yet from outside the darkness and shadows that consumed her, she heard a familiar sound. The sound of fists pounding desperately on wood.

Webby slowly opened her eyes to see four blurry figures crowded around her. Tears of fear were streaming down her face like a rainstorm as she was shaking uncontrollably.

The first figure she recognized was the proud matriarch of the beagle family, Ma Beagle. Although Webby couldn't tell for sure, she looked like she was bored from the whole ordeal.

The frightened child tried her best to fight back against the powerful hands that held her off the floor, but her feeble attempts only made the masked duck grip her harder. Throwing punches at him proved impossible, as her wrists had been tightly tied behind her back.

"UH-! UNCLE SCROO- MMMPH!"

Webby's cry for help was promptly silenced by a long strand of duct tape wrapped firmly around her bill, causing her to struggle and kick fiercely.

"Now now." The masked duck turned her around and gently stroked her face, causing Webby's stomach to drop.

"Relax little girl. We're gonna take gooood care of you..."

"EH-HEH-HEH-HEH. EH-HA-HA-HA-HA!

"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!"

"Are you insane?" Ma Beagle swated Jim's hand away from the child's face and held it in the air.

"This is a kidnapping. Not a creep party!" Ma Beagle didn't want to admit it, but she was actually getting disturbed by her ally's behavior.

By this time, almost everyone in the mansion had crowded outside Webby's bedroom. The only ones who hadn't been alerted to the break-in were Penumbra and Duckworth.

"Magica!" Scrooge McDuck banged on the bedroom door.

"Leave Webbigail alone you cadaverous crone! It's me you really want!"

"That's where your wrong McDuck! This child... This sweet, innocent little duck! Is the final piece of the puzzle, of your family's downfall."

Instantly recognising Magica's voice, Webby opened her eyes to see the sorceress's hands tightly around her.

At first, Webby thought she was seeing things. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't lossing her mind.

There she was, the Sorceress of the Shadows, a skeleton draped in a cape and dress stared into her soul with unblinking, shrunken pupils.

"AUNT MAGICA! Please don't hurt Webby! I'll give you your powers back! I'll be your puppet again! I'll do ANYTHING!"

Lena was panicking. She knew exactly what her aunt was willing to do to Webby, and the thought of her friend having to go through the same abuse she went through shook her to the core.

"Hmph..." Magica simply scoffed at her niece's pitiful offers.

"That ship has long sailed. I gave you your chance to come back to me! And you BLEW IT!"

Magica stopped to slap Webby's tear soaked face hard enough for Lena to hear.

"MAGICA! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE!" The teenager begged.

"You surprise me Lena. I thought you were smarter than this. I don't believe you're in a position to bargain with me."

The sorceress lifted Lena in the air with her magic through the door and started choking her.

Scrooge, Della, Donald and Mrs. Beakley tried their best to help Lena breathe normally, but there was little they could do to stop Magica from crushing her windpipe.

You'll pay for your disobedience to me you little BRAT!"

Magica violently threw the teenager to the floor before anyone could catch her.

"Soon, I'll have you broken, begging for mercy at my feet... Well, more than you are right now at least."

"Circe! Take care of these pathetic fools!"

The sorceress snapped her fingers, causing a sinister shadow to emerge from her and pass underneath the bedroom door.

"What the blazes is-?" Scrooge managed to say before the shadow morphed into the shape of a tall, anthromorphic pig.

"Muh-huh-huh..."

"So you're the legendary Scrooge McDuck." A ghostly feminine voice spoke in a mocking tone.

"So what if I am? What's it to ya?" Scrooge lifted his cane as defense against the shadow.

"Lena? Are you okay?" Dewey noticed the teenager frozen in fear from the shadow.

"...Lena?"

"Circe." Lena whimpered under her breath.

"SCROOGE! WE'VE GOT THE STOP MAGICA BEFORE- UuuuuuhgAAHHHHHH!"

"HOCUS! PORKUS!" The shadow swiftly cast a spell onto Lena, causing her to fall to the floor in pain and started transforming.

"UGH!"

"WEBBY NOOO!"

"WEBBY!

"WEBBIIIIIIIIIIEE-!"

Everyone in the hallway gasped in shock to see Lena slowly and painfully shift into a non-anthromorphic, common farm pig.

"Muh-ha-ha... That's a good look for you." The shadow chuckled down at the unfortunate teenager cowering on the floor in shame.

"Now see here you sadistic specter!" Scrooge approached the dark apparition.

"And for the rest of you. HOCUS! JOKUS!" A wave of magical energy left the shadow like a shockwave.

"Uuuuhh! I don't like where this is going!" Louie said as he and everyone else's souls were transferred into new, unfamiliar bodies.

Louie's soul was transferred into Scrooge's body, while Scrooge's soul was transferred into Louie's body.

Dewey's soul was transferred into Launchpad's body, while Launchpad's soul was transferred into Dewey's body.

Huey's soul was transferred into Mrs. Beakley's body, while Mrs. Beakley's soul was transferred into Huey's body.

Donald's soul was transferred into Della's body, while Della's soul was transferred into Donald's body.

And finally, Violet's soul was transferred into Randy's body, while Randy's soul was transferred into Violet's body.

"Aw, phooey..." Donald muttered in Della's voice, as he was now trapped within his sister's flesh and feathers.

"Uh- UNCLE SCROOOOGE!" Louie stood up in his elderly uncle's body, not yet adjusted to his significantly older age.

"I'm- I'M YOOOOOOUUU!" Scrooge's nephew tried his best not to lose his cool.

"Oh no! I'm a kid again! I-I have to go back school now!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! NOOOOOOOOO!" Dewey stood up and ran out of the hallway in fear.

"DEWEY! Uh, Launchpad. GET BACK HERE!" Louie yelled to Launchpad with a familiar scottish accent.

"Muh-ha-ha. Well! I see you're enjoying your new bodies." The shadow watched her dislocated victims panic and wince in confusion.

"It seems my work here is done."

"BYYYYEEE!" The dark specter waved as she quickly returned to Magica's body. The sorceress chuckled to herself, hearing her distressed enemies in the hall.

"Farewell, fools! We hate to leave so suddenly, but I have an appointment with my new puppet!"

Magica bent down to Webby's height and smiled at her.

"...That would be you."

The child just shook her head, still traumatized from her earlier vision.

"Umffph. Hhmph..." Webby squirmed in her tight bindings.

"Yes. That's it... Just struggle."

Magica was now uncomfortably close to her.

"I love it when they struggle for their lives..."

"By the way. Did you know that there are five dead kids buried in your backyard? On my in, I could hear the scratching of fingernails on one of the casket lids."

"Uh, what?" Ma Beagle wasn't sure if her ears were failing her or not.

"Nevermind. It's all water under the bridge." Magica threw the bound child over her shoulder.

"Now then! BACK TO HOME BASE!"

"Farewell, fools! We hate to leave so suddenly, but-" The sorceress was interrupted by a jab in her back.

"Grrrr. WHAT IS IT?! You're interrupting my grand speech!"

"...You already said that." Ma Beagle said underneath her breath.

"Did I?"

"Oh. Okay then... Now where was I?"

"Oh yes."

"MWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With a snap of her fingers, Magica summoned two enchanted broomsticks and invited Jim a ride on one of them.

"Wait. That's it?" Black Arts Begale stared at his allies in confusion.

"But, but I didn't get to do anything."

"Shut up Black Arts." Ma Beagle grabbed her son and threw him over her shoulder with surprising strength.

"Ma. This is embarrassing!"

"Webbigail!" Scrooge yelled in Louie's voice through the bedroom door.

"Don't let Magica intimidate you! You're a strong young lass. You can resist-" Scrooge was cut short by a powerful blast of magic that almost caused Louie's body the fall to the floor.

"...I, believe in you."

The sorceress cast another powerful blast of magic into Louie's body, knocking him hard against the wall.

"We'll see about that Scroogey. We'll see."

With that said, Magica and Ma Beagle steered the broomsticks out the shattered window and into the night, carrying Webby, Jim, and Black Arts along with them.

"Ughh. I regret getting the extra sturdy doors in this mansion." Scrooge laid on the floor in his nephew's battered body.

"We have no time to waste! We have to get Webby back before Magica does anything to her! S.H.U.S.H. protocol states that we should file an immediate abduction report."

Mrs. Beakley in Huey's body helped Scrooge to his feet, feeling him to see if he had any broken bones.

"Your granddaughter is a dangerous force to be reckoned with. She should be able to handle anything Magica throws at her. Underneath all that ham and black magic, that witch is nothing but a immature, spolied child."

"I'm sure she's-" Scrooge suddenly felt a tug on Louie's hoodie.

Looking down, there was a small pig in a sweater shaking her head and crying.

"...Wait."

"She, can't handle what Magica will throw at her?"

The pig simply nodded.

"...We've got to get Webby back."

"...So, anyone up for pork chops?" Randy in Violet's body tried lighten the mood.

"VIOLET!" Everyone except Violet herself scolded Randy.

"Wait! That's not me! That's- oh no."

"No no no no no."

The hummingbird finally realized what had happened to her body.

"Don't touch- Oh no..."

"This is even more uncomfortable."

Scrooge in Louie's body walked up to Violet and Randy and looked them over closely.

"Wait. Who are you again?"


	3. In a Tight Spot!

Webby Vanderquack opened her eyes to a blinding light shining through the cracks of a tall, wooden door.

Looking around, she couldn't tell if she was currently in a small room or an oversized closet.

Lying on her stomach on the floor, she felt the tight coils of strong ropes around her arms and legs.

Webby's wrists and ankles had been securely tied together behind her back, holding her knees off the cold, hard floor.

There was little the hogtied duckling could do besides uncomfortably squirming and struggling against her cruel bindings in the darkness, as Magica had made sure to overtighten every single knot, causing the ropes to bite into her sensitive skin.

After what felt like hours of fighting, Webby surrendered to the persistent ropes, her grunts of pain and effort significantly muffled by the tape around her bill.

If she wasn't gagged, at least she could call out to her captors and let them know she was awake. Maybe then they would let her stretch her legs a bit, or possibly use the bathroom.

But no.

She had been left completely helpless and alone in the dark, with only her circling thoughts to keep her company.

Everything around her was silent. The only sound Webby could hear was her slow breathing, slightly restricted from her stomach forcing her weight off the floor.

The duckling's violent struggling had pulled her clothing into awkward positions all over her body. Webby's shirt was now tangled up close to her neck, leaving her bare stomach against the freezing hardwood floor. Her short purple skirt didn't have it any better, as it was currently failing at doing it's job.

She was cold.

She was tired.

She was hungry.

She was thirsty.

Her arms and legs ached.

And she was bored outta her mind.

How long had she been lying on the floor?

Just as Webby began to fall back to sleep in exhaustion, she heard the slightest sounds of deep breathing.

It wasn't her...

"Good morning, Webbigai-" Webby's eyes shot wide open.

"MMMMhmpph?! MMMMMhhmPHH!"

In a sudden panic, Webby started desperately struggling and kicking in a attempt to repel her unknown assailant. The figure just watched her in silence as she tugged furiously against her ropes.

After she had once again exhausted all her energy in futile squirming,

Webby broke down into tears. Realizing that she was utterly defenseless, the child closed her eyes, accepting her fate.

"You seem a little stressed... Here, I'll make you feel better."

"Mmhmpph."

The shadowy figure walked up to Webby and began to rub her head feathers in a attempt to comfort her. Even though she didn't want to admit it to herself, it did make her feel a little better.

"...You have very soft feathers Webbigail."

"I wish I could cut them all off and make them into a sweater. It would keep me warm..."

"Mmmhpph?"

Webby was trying her hardest to process what she was hearing.

"Unfortunately. You wouldn't look as pretty without your feathers... It would probably be cold for you too."

"Hhhmgh. Hmmffggh!"

The bound duckling tried her best to get it through to her captor how much pain she was in. If he really wanted her to feel better, he would at least loosen her ropes a bit, right? Even the slightest slack in them at this point would feel like paradise in comparison. Her bent legs and stretched arms were screaming at her for relief, yet the taut ropes held them together with no leniency.

She was uncomfortable. Her limbs were burning. Her throat was parched and scratchy. Where was she anyway? And who was looking down at her?

Did he not understand her obvious signs of discomfort? Did he want her to suffer? Why didn't he just untie her already?

"Mmmmpph! Mmph! HHMmmphh!"

"...I watched you sleep." Webby's captor sat down next to her, his thick glasses reflecting the dim light across the floor.

"Your lips looked a little dry while you were sleeping, so I licked them for you..."

Hearing this, Webby began spitting and gagging in disgust. Still unable to open her bill from the tape around it.

"You have the cutest smile when you sleep."

"Mmhhpph."

"...I like your tail too."

The darkened figure bent down and slowly sniffed her tail feathers, Causing Webby to almost vomit in her mouth.

This creep was freaking her out. What kind of person licks someone's lips while they were asleep and then sniffs their nether regions? She felt completely violated, and there was no one present to get him away from her.

"Ahhhh..." He inhaled deeply.

"It reminds me of my dear sweet Gummeemama."

Webby wasn't exactly sure what a 'Gummeemama' was. But it didn't make her feel any less disturbed.

"I like you Webbigail... Do you like me?"

"Mmph. Mmmmpph!"

"I'll accept that as a 'yes'."

After taking another big whiff of her tail feathers, the figure scooted down to her webbed feet. Still tightly tied to her wrists.

"Hmmmmm... You have such lovely feet Webbigail."

"...You wouldn't mind if I feel them a bit, do you?"

'Do I even have a choice?' Webby wanted to say.

Grasping the duckling's webbed feet in his sweaty hands, the violater felt them all over, and there was little Webby could do to stop him.

After a few minutes of rubbing her gently, the figure heard a muffled giggle from his captive.

"Are your feet ticklish Webbigail? That's cute."

"Hmm... But I can imagine it would be quite difficult to laugh with all that tape around your bill."

Hearing this, Webby felt a wave relief. 'Finally!'

"Here, let me take it off for you."

After walking up to her head, the figure slowly but surely peeled the sticky tape off her bill. Although Webby was grateful to be able to speak again, it wasn't enough to keep her from chewing him out.

"UH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" The tightly bound duckling screamed at her captor as loudly as she could.

"I'VE BEEN LYING HERE TIED UP LIKE THIS FOR HOURS!"

"DO YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH THIS HURTS?!" Webby struggled angrily on the floor. Her limbs ached so much now, they felt like they were going to fall off her body.

"EWW! Get away from me you DISGUSTING butt sniffing FREAK!"

Where's Magica?! Who are you?! Where am I?! How dare you touch me without permission! EWWW! I can't believe you sniffed my butt!"

"SOMEONE GET THIS SICKO AWAY FROM ME!"

The figure just stared down at her with unblinking eyes, watching her struggle in pain and discomfort.

"...You look hungry."

"SERVENTS!"

The door to the room suddenly flew open, illuminating the small room in light.

In rushed a terrified maid and butler, ready to fulfill their master's wishes.

"Yes master Doofus?" Both of them spoke in unison.

"Take her, to the breakfast room."

"Master... Doofus?" Webby said aloud.

"...DOOFUS DRAKE?!"

"Louie told me all about you! Y-You, you tried to use him as a piñata!"

Doofus' face suddenly twisted into visible fury, as he seemed to be trying to hold back some dark, malevolent force.

"Never... mention, that brat's name, in my PRESENCE!" Doofus yelled directly into Webby's face.

"Servents."

"Take her... to the breakfast room."

Without waiting a single second, the maid and butler scooped up the restrained duckling in their arms and carried her out of the dimly lit room.

After they had almost made it to their destination in the mansion, Webby decided to try her luck with Doofus' seemingly not insane servents.

"Um, could you loosen these ropes a bit, please?"

Webby tried her best not to cry from rope burns and embarrassment.

"This hurts so much..."

"She's only a child dear." Doofus' mother said to her husband.

"She's too young to be treated like this."

Putting Webby on the floor, the husband and wife quickly untied the ropes holding her wrists and ankles tightly together. After the last knot had been undone, the duckling stretched out her aching legs.

"Go get her a glass of water dear. Her voice doesn't sound normal."

The maid got to work gently untying Webby's arms and legs, while the butler went off to fetch some water.

After every coil of rope had finally been undone, the woman laid the exhausted duckling on a couch and straightened out her messy clothes and feathers.

"Here." The butler handed Webby a large glass filled with water.

She gulped down every drop of the cold liquid almost instantly. Not stopping to even take a breath.

"...Thank you."

It didn't take long for Webby to fully realize that this was a perfect opportunity to run for it.

Magica, Ma Beagle, Doofus, that other creepy duck, they were seemingly nowhere around to stop her escape.

"I'm outta here!"

Although her legs were still screaming at her to just lie down and rest, Webby hopped up from the comfy couch and ran off into the mansion as fast as she could.

When she first woke up a few hours ago, she hadn't expected Magica to have taken her to a sparkling clean, but mostly empty mansion. Webby thought Magica to be the more volcanic hideout, abandoned castle type witch.

Webby didn't have much time to think on Magica's taste of evil lairs, as she eventually came to what looked like the front door.

Turing the doorknob and looking outside, the duckling recognized where she was.

Doofus Drake's Treehouse mansion.

Seeing a police officer not far down the street, Webby ran up to him as fast as her legs could carry her and grasped his shirt.

"Officer! I've been kidnapped and held against my will by an evil witch!"

"Not only that! But I've been licked and sniffed by some crazy rich kid named DOOFUS DRAKE!"

"Hmm... Now that is quite an interesting story there little missy." The officer spoke without turning around.

"You mind going through all that again?"

"I SAID..."

Webby continued, dispite knowing how crazy she sounded.

"I've been kidnapped and held against MY WILL-"

"By an evil witch named Magica De Spell and a crazy rich kid named Doofus that licked your lips and sniffed your tail."

"YES!"

The frantic duckling gripped the policeman's wrist.

"NOW GET ME OUTTA HERE BEFOR-"

Webby froze, feeling the officer's tight grip on her hand.

Without warning, the policeman's head slowly turned to make eye contact with her. The sounds of bones cracking and snapping filled the eerie dead silence of Duckburg.

The child wanted to run, she wanted to scream, but all she could manage to do was stare back at that soulless, pale husk of what used to be a living being.

That THING, stared silently down at her with two dark holes where his eyes should have been. Spread across his face, was a large toothy smile, much too happy for a person who seemingly couldn't see.

And then Webby, heard it.

The sounds of millions of spiders crawling and screaming in pain came from within the corpse still tightly holding her hand.

In a desperate attempt to get away from the policeman, Webby pulled her hardest to free her trapped hand. Yet somehow, that only made the corpse grow stronger.

To the duckling's horror, thousands upon thousands of large black spiders poured out of the officer's mouth and eyes sockets and crawled down his hand.

Webby fought and screamed as the spiders completely covered her small body and crawled down her clothes.

The sky above Duckburg turned a hellish red as Webby fell onto the sidewalk. The only sound she could hear was the horde of black arachnids filling her insides and the voice of a familiar british sorceress.

"You cannot escape from me child. I am everywhere..."

* * *

Webby Vanderquack opened her eyes to a blinding light shining through the cracks of a tall, wooden door.

Looking around, she couldn't tell if she was currently in a small room or an oversized closet.

Lying on her stomach on the floor, she felt the tight coils of strong ropes around her arms and legs.

Webby's wrists and ankles had been securely tied together behind her back, holding her knees off the cold, hard floor.

"Moooorning Webby! How have you been?"

A certain shadowy sorceress spoke from behind the duckling in a surprisingly cheery tone.

"No, really. Did you honestly think you could just, escape from me that easily?"

"Hhhmghh..." Webby managed to say, as her bill was once again bound with tape.

"I'm no fool Webby."

"Scrooge, Glomgold, Lena, now they're all fools."

"But you..."

Magica bent down closely to Webby's face, her visibly empty skull rotting away in front of her.

"You aren't exactly a fool."

"A bit of a misguided, dumb little girl. But not a fool."

The sorceress gently stroked Webby's bill with her dry skeleton fingers.

"You're quite a tough, attractive, intelligent little duckling Webby..."

"But you made one, fatal mistake..."

"You chose the losing side."

Webby didn't even try to talk back, she knew well enough that she was completely helpless against Magica.

"You see, I'm not just another villain that wants to antagonize Scrooge's life with idiotic petty plans to murder him and stuff."

"Death is too good for that old fool..."

"For I am Scrooge's downfall!"

"I am Scrooge's bringer of judgment!"

"I am, Magica De Spell!"

The sorceress jumped triumphantly in air.

"...You know, most people wouldn't actually sacrifice their own flesh and blood just to become powerful enough to strike down their enemies."

"But I'm not most people Webby."

Magica sighed deeply.

"To be perfectly honest though. Being a living skeleton does have it's disadvantages..."

"Number one, you lose most of your senses."

"When I was stuck as a shadow for fifteen years, I really missed having my sense of touch, taste, smell, you know the rest."

"...And it's no different being a living skeleton."

"BUT! When I eventually became strong enough to take Lena's body for myself, I was surprised that I still didn't recover my senses."

"I tried eating... nothing."

"I tried drinking... nothing."

"Sheesh. All that perfectly aged wine. Completely wasted."

"I tried... pleasuring myself."

"You know, the way girls do."

"...Absolutely nothing."

"But I was desperate, WEBBY!"

"Desperate to feel ANYTHING!"

"So, I stubbed my toe against a wall."

"Nothing."

"I bit down on my tongue."

"Nothing."

"I caught my finger in a door."

"Still nothing."

"I burned myself."

"I didn't even flinch."

"So... I took the sharpest knife I could find..." Magica suddenly put a knife to Webby's bound wrists.

"I slowly cut deep into my wrist. Left and right, left and right..."

"Deeper and deeper, I cut away at my flesh."

"...That miserable brat screamed so loud that night."

"And over her screams, I could hear her begging for me to stop. It was sickeningly pathetic."

"Yet, I still felt nothing."

"At that moment, I realized the truth."

"If I wanted to feel, smell, breathe ever again, I had to get my body back."

"So in the meantime, I punished that disobedient little whore instead."

"...You want to hear how I punished her, Webby?"

Magica forcibly made the child nod her head with her hand.

"You do? THAT'S GREAT."

Webby couldn't help holding back her tears, as she was visibly horrified by what the undead sorceress was telling her. Although the duckling knew that Magica was a born liar, and overall terrible person. Smething deep in the pit of her stomach told her that what she was telling her was the truth.

"You have to understand Webby. Dispite her being your, BEESSST FRIEND." Magica mocked the bound child on the floor.

"...Lena is BAAAAADD GIRL."

"And bad girls like her have to be punished."

"Okay, let's see if I can remember."

"Oh yes. First, I starved her."

"You know, only eating enough to keep her from falling dead before the lunar eclipse."

"It was a little funny though. When that brat lived underneath the amphitheatre, she only ate what she could find. Which, wasn't that much really."

"But the day of the lunar eclipse, I noticed that she had lost a lot of weight."

"Well, at least I think she did."

"Last time I checked, I wasn't able to see her ribs..."

"Now where was I?" Magica turned to look at Webby, who was now glaring intensely back at her.

"That's right. T- I mean punishment."

The sorceress reclined against the duckling on the floor.

"Then, I took a belt to her."

"Beat her to the floor."

"Made her sit on tacks. Simple stuff."

"But for the grand finale! I wrapped my shadow essence tightly around her, stuffed it down her throat, forced it into her eyes..."

Magica stood up and ripped the tape off Webby's bill.

"Guess what I did next."

"Go ahead. Guess."

"...You're a monster." Webby finally spoke.

"Hey, even monsters have emotions. Then again, maybe not."

"Anyway. I gave Lena control over her body again, and-"

"I don't want to hear it." The duckling interrupted Magica with a cold tone in her voice.

"Lena isn't a plaything to be smacked and thrown around for your own amusement."

"It doesn't matter if you created her or not, she's my friend. Living shadow or not, she didn't deserve all that terrible stuff you did to her..."

"But that's where your wrong child."

"Lena is mine! Mine to do with as I please. She was born to be a slave to me. Her whole purpose in life is to serve her master."

"The problem with slaves though is that not all of them are entirely submissive at first."

"She disobeyed me, therefore I had to punish her."

"You may think that her offering herself to come back to me was her trying to save you. But in reality, she was just doing what she was born to do, fulfilling her role as a compliant slave."

"So you see Webby..."

"Following orders, being completely submissive and obedient, it's all in her blood."

"...But you." Magica gently rolled Webby onto her back, crushing her arms and legs underneath her weight.

"You're different from all the other children I've dealt with."

"You're tougher, smarter, and overall better looking than all of them."

"Tell me, what's your secret?"

The bound duckling remained silent, trying her best to ignore Magica's manipulation.

"...I SAID-!"

The sorceress grabbed Webby by her shirt, lifting her up to her eye level.

"UUH! I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU A DAMN THING, YOU HEINOUS HARRIDAN!" Webby yelled in Magica's face.

After the duckling realized she had both sworn and insulted Magica to her face, she immediately grew quiet. Instinctively, she tried to protect her face with her hands, still tied tightly to her ankles.

"Why you little-!"

Magica pulled back a clenched, ignited fist to punch Webby straight in her right eye, but stopped herself before she made contact.

"...Not yet."

The sorceress relaxed herself and carried the startled child over to a chair and laid her down on her lap. Unsurprisingly, Webby didn't consent to her feathers being groomed by her greatest enemy.

"I have a little proposition for you child."

"Either you completely surrender your mind and body to me and become my newest puppet..."

"Or, I humiliate and torture you till you beg for mercy from me as a weeping, bloody mess on the floor."

"If you give yourself up to me now, I promise I will not hurt you..."

Webby didn't take long to make her decision. She truly hated Magica, and surrendering to her was literally the last thing she wanted to do.

"...I'd rather DIE than to give myself up to you."

The duckling fought hard in attempt to push the skeleton hand away from her.

"Well-"

Magica stopped running her fingers through the child's feathers.

"I gave you your chance..."

"I'm not afraid of you." Webby boldy said, while still tightly hogtied on her enemy's lap.

"Is that so...?"

Suddenly, The shadowy sorceress violently pushed Webby onto the floor, causing her to cry in pain as her bound limbs were once again crushed underneath her.

"...I'm still not afraid of you."

"Ah ah ah. You're lyiiiiing. I can see it in your eyes." Magica spoke in a particularly childish tone.

"Trust me, I've seen those same tearfilled eyes in Lena countless times."

"And around here, lying is quite a punishable offense."

"I said I'M NOT afraid of YOU. It's just these ROPES!" Webby was quickly losing her temper with Magica.

"Oh. Are they possibly too tight for such a strooong little girl like you?"

"Of course NOT! Just give me some time. I'll snap them all apart!"

Webby began furiously grunting and rolling around on the floor at Magica's feet. The sorceress couldn't help laughing at her pitiful struggling.

"Oh Webby, you are just TOO MUCH!"

Magica walked over to a table and grabbed a glass jar filled with a bright purple liquid.

"I'd bet you are thirsty. Here."

The sorceress bent down and showed Webby the glowing stimulant.

"...What, is that?" The duckling was getting a little nervous.

"Oh this? Just a special potion I brewed earlier today just for you."

"It's really delicious. Now open up."

As soon as Magica brought the tip of the jar to her mouth, Webby shut her bill as tightly as she could.

"I said... OPEN, UP."

Magica tried her best to force Webby's bill open with her hands, but it only resulted with most of the potion spilling all over them.

"AUGH! YOU IMPUDENT LITTLE BRAT!" The sorceress swiftly kicked the duckling's defenseless face.

"Forget it. I'm not drinking that stuff..." Webby spoke softly after the stars had disappeared from her vision.

"...Let's see. I could either force a pipe far down your throat and just pour away."

"Or, we could do something waaay more fun." Magica smiled deviously.

"So, you're a little ticklish aren't you?"

Webby's eyes suddenly shot open in fear and dread upon hearing this.

"...Why do you ask?"

"Oh... Nothing."

"I just recall one sleepover where you and Lena had a tickle fight."

"Tell me, did you enjoy it?"

The duckling laid on the floor in a silent, obvious panic.

"...Yes. Yes I did. I love tickling." Webby answered in a very unconvincing way.

"So, if you tickled me, it wouldn't do you any good."

"...You know, I'm reaaally sorry about kicking you in the face Webby."

Magica imitated the child's unusually bad acting.

"I should have controlled MY temper."

"And to show HOW sorry I really am, I'll tickle you. I mean, if you really like it that much, and if it wouldn't make you uncomfortable..."

"N-no. But, uh, I deserved to be kicked. You don't wanna tickle me!"

"But I do Webby! After all, such adorable little webbed feet like the ones you have were just MADE to be tickled!"

The child blushed and tried to roll over on her back.

"Oh, would you like me to start with your stomach first?" Magica bent down and quickly turned the duckling over.

"WA-WAIT! MAGICA PLEASE DON'T!"

"But, but I thought you said you LOVED tickling."

Magica gasped in an overdramatic fashion.

"Is it possible, that you lied to ME?"

"Magica! Please don't tickle me! I'll drink the potion!"

Webby hated herself for giving in so easily. But whatever was in the jar couldn't possibly be worse than being creepily groped and tickled all over by Magica. Right?

"Okay, if that's really what you want."

The sorceress grabbed the glowing potion and held it over Webby's bill.

"Bottoms up!"

Magica poured every last drop of the foul potion down the duckling's throat as she tried to keep from gagging from the thick sludge.

"...Now that's a good girl." The sorceress patted her head.

"Blaagh! It tastes terrible!"

Webby's face turned a dark shade of green as she felt the potion settle in her stomach.

"Oops! Sorry, wrong potion! That was the sleep deprivation potion."

"Bleugh... Sleep deprivation potion?!" The duckling struggled on the floor.

"Why yes. And I do feel bad for you Webby. Because unless you drink another certain potion, it will be completely impossible for you to fall asleep."

Magica gasped.

"OH, NO!"

Webby stopped struggling.

"You are enjoying this way more than you really should..."

"Yes, I know."

"And unless you give yourself up to me, you won't be falling asleep anytime soon..."

"Big deal! I can last days without sleep." The duckling lied.

"Hmm... How about weeks?"

Webby stared angrily in silence.

"And no food either! You can starve yourself to the bone for all I care."

"...My family will come and rescue me. You'll see."

"Ahem. I'm sure your FAMILY has WAAAY more important stuff on their minds right now..."

"Now. Shall we join the others for breakfast? Of course, you wouldn't get to eat anything."

"But, I guess that's a small price to pay for free will..."


	4. The Little Merduck!

The currently richest duck in the world, Scrooge McDuck, rubbed his nephew's tired eyes and yawned as he laid in bed. As soon as he roughly scratched Louie's usual itchy spot, the events of last night gradually returned to him.

"Ooh right... Freaky Friday flip."

Still not used to his much shorter legs, Scrooge fell hard onto the floor while trying to get out of bed.

"...Curse me kilts."

"Hearing his fall, the ghost of Duckworth floated into the bedroom and up to Scrooge. Lifting him up and putting him on his feet, the deceased bulter placed a cup of nutmeg tea in his hands.

"Morning Mr. McDuck. Tell me. Did you sleep well?"

"Uuuugh."

"If by well, do you mean me constantly dragging myself up and down the hallway in the dead of night, while also worrying about Webbigail's safety and having that BLASTED witch mock me in my dreams everytime I fell asleep?"

"Then yes. I slept great..."

"Hmmm. I do believe I heard you mutter something about Santa Claus last night in your sleep."

"Tell me, what did he do to make you curse the way you did? It's been decades since I last heard those words leave your mouth."

"...Spats." Louie's eyes glazed over in madness.

"That, SPITEFUL, HO HO HOOLIGAN, CHIMNEY STALKING SCOUNDREL STOLE MY SPATS!"

"Not only that! But THEN HE FED THEM TO BLITZEN AND RUDOLPH!"

"BLAAH!" Scrooge stomped the floor in anger.

"Relax Mr. McDuck. It was just a nightmare."

"Just a nightmar- Rrrrrrrrr!"

"LOUIE'S WEBBED FOOT!"

"Don't you understand?! Those were my FAVORITE SPATS!"

"He may as well have brought my grandmother back from the grave with his army of elf necromancers, and then run her over with a reindeer!"

"Hmmm... Speaking of the dead. The local spirits said they have no idea where Magica and Webbigail are."

"Either they've been bribed, or Magica fled to somewhere out of state. Spirits are very territorial you know. Willing to start a feud over a tiny unkempt cabin."

"Well, they're not at Mount Vesuvius."

Scrooge took a sip of his tea.

"...I destroyed her lair there years ago. Even if Magica went back, there would be nothing left for her to salvage."

"I had to bring a priest along to drive those vengeful spirits out. That place was so haunted, I couldn't sit down for five seconds before a chair was pulled out from underneath me!"

"And we can't track Webbigail down through her cellphone either. Magica threw it out before she left..."

"Well, me and Mrs. Beakley have finished preparing breakfast. Although it was quite a bit difficult for her to do so in young master Huey's body."

"I'm honestly surprised she's taking being trapped in a child's body so well..."

"S.H.U.S.H. protocol states that any agent should remain calm and collected in the worse of situations." Scrooge finished the last bit of his morning tea.

"And quite frankly, being an adult stuck in a child's body is a fate I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemies."

"Well, except maybe Flinty."

"...And Magica."

"And, Santa Claus?" Duckworth guessed.

"And Santa Clau-"

Louie's eyes once again glazed over in madness.

"RrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAARRRGGHH!"

The duckling furiously punched the wall hard enough to shake the entire bedroom. He was too enraged to realize how much Louie's fist hurt.

"CURSE THAT KRIS KRINGLE BAWBAG!"

Duckworth stared silently down at the enraged child.

"...If you weren't trapped within Louie's body, I believe I would have to wash his mouth out with soap."

"Now get dressed and come to breakfast. You'll need to eat to keep up your Santa cursing strength."

Duckworth floated down through the floor and into the kitchen.

"Uuugh. I'm going to have to have a talk to Louie about drinking so much before bed..."

* * *

"...Huey? Are, you okay?"

Dewey touched Mrs. Beakley's shoulder with Launchpad's hand in concern.

"Can't..."

"Can't what?"

"Heh heh heh, AhhaHAHAahAHH! Can't do ANYTHING!" Huey grabbed his misplaced brother to make eye contact.

"If I move, I feel things that shouldn't be THERE."

"HehehehHA."

"If I talk, I confuse myself."

"AaaHA!"

"If I eat, I'll have to go the bathroom."

"AhhHAHheheh!"

"In a old woman's body?! Nooo WAAAAY."

"Ah Hahahahahah."

"Okay, okay. I see your point." Dewey pushed his frantic brother back into his chair.

"But we could be stuck like this for days. You can't just sit there this whole time."

"Wa-wa-wa-WHAT?!"

"OF COURSE I CAN SIT HERE LIKE THIS THIS WHOLE TIME. I DON'T SEE ANY PROBELMS WITH THIS! DO YOU SEE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS? NOOOO PROBLEMS HEEEEERE!"

"AAAAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Just relax Huey. It's not so bad being trapped in someone's else's body."

Della in Donald's body took a another large monthfull of her breakfast, while Donald sat silently in his chair with his sister's face on the table.

"Just take me and Donald for example. We're not freaking out. Actually, being in a different body is actually kinda fun."

"FUN?!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"WHAT ABOUT THIS IS FUN!?"

"YOU'RE HIS TWIN SISTER. OF COURSE YOU'RE USED TO BEING CLOSE TO HIM."

"BUT ME...?"

"I'M NOW WEBBY'S GRANDMOTHER!"

"WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I WANTED TO GROW UP TO BE A SCIENTIST, OR POSSIBLY A BODY FARM CARETAKER!"

"But Noooooo. GRANDMOTHER!"

"Uugh. Could you please stop screaming?" Mrs. Beakley in Huey's body covered his ears.

"You're going to ruin my vocal cords."

"Morning kids..." Scrooge drowsily walked into the dining room in his nephew's tired body.

"Morning Uncle Scrooge!" Della spoke in Donald's almost unintelligible voice.

"...Where's Louie?" Scrooge asked.

"I dunno. Last time I saw him, he was in his bedroom."

* * *

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUUTTT!"

Louie desperately punched and slapped his uncle's body in a crazy scheme to somehow return himself to his much younger body.

"Oh, his back!"

"Aaaah! Arthritis?!"

"I'm too YOUNG TO DIE OF OLD AGE!"

"AAAAH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The duckling's loud 'no' could be heard all throughout McDuck Manor.

* * *

"...Eh, he's probably fine."

"Ugh. This is crazy. Nothing like this ever happened in the history of the moon."

Penumbra crossed her arms and sat in her chair.

"Your planet is just one problem after another. This earth deviless Magica sounds like a real nutjob..."

"She's worse than a nutjob." Scrooge walked up to the moonlander.

"Of all the villains I've faced, Magica has proved herself time and time again to be the most vile, cruel, sadistic person for me to ever call one of my enemies."

"She's practically obsessed with darkness and evil to the point of her making rash, stupid decisions."

"...But, I have to admit. She really put us in a pickle this time."

"We have no idea where she took poor Webbigail, or what she plans to do to her."

"Not including us being trapped within unfamiliar bodies and turning Lena into a pig."

"Wait... Where is Lena?" Dewey looked around the dining room in Launchpad's body.

"She's asleep kitchen." Mrs. Beakley answered.

"Hopefully the sedative I gave her won't produce any negative effects in pigs."

Scrooge sighed.

"I'm afraid the only thing we can do know is wait for an update from the police, and hope for the best for Webbigail."

"What do you think Magica is going to do her?" Dewey asked his uncle.

"I mean, she wouldn't just kill her, would she?"

"...That's not Magica's style. Her vendetta against Webbigail seems way more personal. And bitter."

"It's possible that at this very moment, she could be inflicting her with the worst kind of cruelty a sick minded witch like her could come up with..."

* * *

"No! NOOOOOOOO!"

"Throw me in the dungeon!"

"Tie me to the rack!"

"Tear my teeth out!"

"Skin me ALIVE!"

"Tar and feather me!"

"ANYTHING BUT THIISS!"

"Now really Webby. We haven't even started yet."

Magica continued tying the struggling duckling to a chair.

"You can't beg for mercy from me already."

"Oh, and hello! Earth to Webby. You already have feathers. I don't really see the point of putting more of them on you..."

The skeleton sorceress finished tying the final knot of the ropes around Webby and stepped back.

"...There. What do you think?" Magica put her arm around Ma Meagle.

The head of the Duckburg criminal family just stared at the duckling straining against her bindings, not sure what to say.

"And... the point of this is?"

"To force her to sit at the breakfast table without running away of course."

"Hmmm. But it's missing something."

Magica quickly threw another piece of rope around Webby and tied it tightly around the chair, making it effectively harder for her breathe.

"There! Now it's perfect."

The sorceress swiftly pushed the chair along the floor and into the breakfast room. Webby became more and more panicked the closer they got.

"MAGICA NO!"

"PUT ME IN THE STOCKS!"

"GIVE ME A WELCOME PARADE!"

"LOCK ME IN THE IRON MAIDEN!"

"THROW ME TO THE LIONS!"

"PLUCK AND ROAST ME!"

"ANYTHING BUT-"

"Good Moooorning again Webbigai-" Doofus Drake was almost immediately interrupted by Webby's shrill screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaAAHHH!"

Magica sat the frantic duckling right beside the child billionaire and patted her head.

"OH MY! You two look so cute together I can hardly stand it!"

"Webbigail..." Doofus hugged Webby tightly while Jim and Black Arts watched.

"Magica! This is TOO CRUEL!"

Ma Beagle cleared her throat and tapped the shadowy sorceress.

"We need to talk..."

"Now I get it, you hate Webby and wanna torment her. Makes sense, I hate her too."

"But we're wasting time! Let's take down Scrooge and his family while they're vulnerable and take back Duckburg! Then you can torture and humiliate Webby for the rest of her life if you want. I don't care..."

Magica chuckled to herself.

"Oh my dear, sweet Katherine."

"You're missing the whole point of this."

It's not about WHEN Scrooge McDuck is defeated, it's about HOW Scrooge McDuck is defeated. And by WHOM."

"You see, young Webbigail here is responsible for turning my niece Lena against me. She betrayed me and sided with McDuck, while stealing my old powers in the process."

"Soooo... If they want to play the betrayal game with me, then FINE! Two can play at that game."

"Uugh! Can you get to the point already?!" Ma Beagle sat down in a chair.

"I was just, getting to it..." Magica continued to pace the floor.

"Although they're not actually related, Webby considers McDuck her uncle. While McDuck considers her his niece..."

"Now, picture it in your head."

"Scrooge McDuck's family, brutally murdered by his niece, Webby Vanderquack!"

"The young killer betrayed her family and sided with McDuck's greatest enemy, the Sorceress of the Shadows, Magica De Spell!"

"Our story will be told down through the generations! As the De Spell family will once again, rule the UNIVERSE, to the ends of TIME!"

"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

Magica gave out a loud laugh and then paused.

"And the spell that will turn Webby into my slave only works if she accepts her defeat and agrees to it..."

"So we torture her till she can't stand it anymore and she eventually gives herself up?" Ma Beagle seemed surprisingly disinterested.

"Now you've got it!"

The criminal matriarch looked to Webby, who was currently attempting to push away Doofus with her head.

"You call this torture?" She grabbed a heavy brick from her purse and held it in the air.

"I say we bash her brains in and drag her behind a truck..."

"YES!"

"BASH MY BRAINS IN!"

"DRAG ME BEHIND A TRUCK!"

"ANYTHING BUT- Mmmmmmpph!"

Magica shut Webby's bill and blocked Ma Beagle's brick before she could hit the duckling over the head with it. Unsurprisingly, Doofus was not all alarmed that her 'precious Webbigail' was almost critically injured.

"Patience please. Patience!"

"We start small and then slowly build our way UP, to bashing her small brains in."

"We're not going to just rush through all of this as fast as possible. We're going to make it go as slow and painful for her as possible. And savor her every tortured cry..."

"Okay, fine..."

Ma Beagle sat back in her chair.

"But let's do something else to her already. This creepy rich kid is starting to freak me out."

"Have you laid any eggs yet dear Webbigail?" Doofus felt the back of the duckling's neck.

"If not, I'd like to put your first in my collection. Try to make it a little pink spotted one if you can."

"...NOOOO! IT'S TOO MUCH! PLEASE STOP THE TORMENT!"

The child billionaire completely ignored Webby's distaste for him and kissed her cheek.

"Servants! Bring me FIVE fresh jars from the honeybin!"

Hearing his order, Doofus' parents almost immediately ran out of the breakfast room.

"..."

"Would you like it Webbigail if I lathered you all over with honey and then licked it off?"

"I would like it very much..."

"That's it! I'm out." Ma Beagle dropped her brick and walked out of the room while Webby sat perfectly still in stunned silence."

"Black Arts!"

"But, but Ma! I love honey!"

"UGH! For cryin'-"

The beagle boy's mother grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.

"Ma? Ma?! Ear! Ear!"

"Here's the honey master Doofus." The terrified maid and butler carried five large jars of honey up to the the young billionaire.

"Wonderful..."

Doofus cracked open the top of the first jar.

"Servants! Untie her and hold her still in the corner."

"Yes master Doofus."

"Wa-Wait. WAAAAITT!" Webby finally snapped out of shock.

"Y-You, YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! THIS IS SO WRONG!"

"SOMEONE PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE! GRANNY! GIZMODUCK! UNCLE SCROOOOGE!"

The duckling fought with all her strength to free herself from the chair, but was only able knock herself sideways on the floor.

"This is so wrong..."

Doofus stared emotionlessly down at Webby crying silently in her chair.

"...I believe you're right Webbigail. This IS wrong."

The duckling opened her eyes in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yes... Servants-"

"OH THANK Selene!" Webby felt her heart beating normally again.

"-Take her to my master bathroom-"

"...Maybe you're not so bad after-"

-and bathe her."

Webby's eyes shot open.

"Then lather her all over with honey... And then afterwards, give her, another bath! I will be there to supervise."

"Yes master Doofus." The maid and butler both had the looks of absolute dread of their faces. Webby didn't have it very good either.

"...I had a special rubber ducky made special for you Webbigail."

Doofus pulled out a little rubber toy from his pants that looked suspiciously like Webby and squeezed it.

"Hehe. I love you Doofus." It chimed in a eerily similar imitation of her voice.

"NO!"

"No no no no no!"

"This CAN'T BE HAPPENING to ME!"

"What did I do to deserve this?"

"What did I do to deserve this?!"

"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?"

"NOOOO-"

"Wait." Magica finally interrupted. Everyone in the room grew silent.

"I have a much better idea."

"Doofus... Is it possible that there is something that you want, very verrry much, but you just couldn't get because, well... Money can't buy everything?"

"Hmmm." The child billionaire started thinking.

"Now that you mention it, there is something that I want."

"When I was so much younger, I watched a movie with my dear departed Gummeemama."

"Gummeemama..." The maid and butler chanted.

"And in this movie, there was a pretty little merduck named Ariel who married the prince she loved."

"Ever since then, I wanted a little merduck of my own. I'd feed her, take her for swims, comb her wet feathers. I'd do everything in my power to make her happy."

Doofus sighed.

"...But unfortunately. Real life merducks are mostly ugly and mean creatures. And the ones that are pretty, aren't very little."

"I'm sure that it would give my dear Gummeemama everlasting peace if I got one..."

The masked duck known as Jim Starling wiped away a tear and blew his nose into his hat.

"Oooh, what a touching story. I wish there SOMETHING I could do to help give his, poor sweet Gummeemama, peace in the afterlife!"

"Magica. We must do something for her! ANYTHING!" Jim overdramatically begged at the witch's feet.

The Sorceress of the Shadows gave him a malicious smile and summoned her wand. Without wasting time, she walked up to Webby and stood ominously above her.

"Yes. You'll do nicely."

"...Wait. What are you-"

The duckling caught onto what Magica had planned for her.

"No... No you, you CAN'T-"

The sorceress tightly shut Webby's bill with her magic and instantly turned the ropes around her to ash. With little effort, Magica telekinetically lifted the child into the air and held her upside down.

"You want a pretty little merduck?" Magica turned to Doofus.

The young billionaire darkly smiled and nodded.

"...Circe!" Magica snapped her fingers.

"HOCUS! JOKUS!" The shadow cast a powerful spell onto the duckling.

In a panic, Webby struggled desperately in the air against Magica's and Circe's powers, but eventually stopped herself from fighting. She knew by now that there was no way out of this.

The duckling felt her insides shift and contort violently as she tried to remain calm. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream out for help. But what good would it do? Nobody was there to rescue her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. As everything was definitely not alright.

No. Her Uncle Scrooge had faith in her. She wasn't going to let herself crumble before Magica so easily.

She was stronger than this.

She was stronger than this.

She was stronger than- THUD! Webby fell hard on the cold floor.

Fearing the worst, the jinxed child attempted to move her legs, only to discover that the lower half of her body had been transformed into the tail of a large fish. It scales sparkled of a bright pink.

Before the merduck could fully comprehend that she had an entirely new, unwanted appendage, Magica hoisted her off the floor and looked her over closely.

"...WEBBY! THAT'S ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!"

The sorceress hugged her tightly.

"Magica..." Webby put on the best face of discontent she could muster. Seeing the grumpy expression on her face, Magica couldn't help from laughing. She was enjoying humiliating Webby more than she'd thought, and this was only the beginning.

"Oh! Who's an adorable little merduck? Who's an adorable little merduck?"

"You ARE!" The sorceress forced her fingers into her bill and made her smile.

Without putting her down, Magica reached into her pocket and pulled out a small black collar and locked it around her neck.

"Well, do you like your new collar?"

Webby stared angrily at the giddy sorceress a bit before responding.

"...Shouldn't I be dying? I thought merducks couldn't breathe ai-"

The merduck clutched her collared throat in panic as she realized that she couldn't breathe oxygen anymore. Webby choked and gagged in Magica's arms as Doofus ran up to them.

"Doofus? Would you like to take your new merduck for a her first swim?" The sorceress handed the child a long black leash.

"I was hoping you'd ask..." The billionaire hugged Magica tightly and then calmly carried Webby to his pool as she continued choke to death in his arms.

"Oh, what a sweet kid..." Jim walked up to Magica.

"Most kids are just selfish LITTLE TWERPS that don't appreciate a thing you do for them."

"If I ever became a parent, I'd be SURE to give my kid all the love and attention that they deserve..."

"Let me give you a little advice darling." Magica shut off the light and walked to the door.

"You have to show children who's in charge. Punish them when they do wrong, reward them when they do right."

"Although it may hurt, you can't be afraid to take a belt to them for even the smallest misdeeds. Make them regret ever disobeying you."

"Make them fear but respect you. Otherwise, they'd walk all over you, treat you like garbage."

"They'll learn eventually..."


	5. The Webby De Spell Regression Session!

A Latin duck in a bulky cybernetic armor cautiously rolled down the concrete walkway up to a lonely house in Duckburg. Although the front yard and surrounding neighborhood was mostly well kept and orderly, it was oddly foreboding for the superhero. Gathering every ounce of his courage, he knocked twice on the front door and waited patiently.

After a minute of silence from inside, a young gray duck opened the door and looked up to Fenton.

"Uh, greetings citizen."

"In case you haven't heard the recent news, a local little girl was adducted two days ago by a witch named... Magica De Spell."

"She is considered armed with spells and extremely dangerous."

"So if you see this little girl-"

Fenton handed the duck a small photo of Webby.

"-be sure to call the authorities immediately."

"Her name is Webbigail Vanderquack, she's eleven years old, and she was last seen wearing the clothes she's wearing in the photo."

"...Apparently, that's her favorite outfit. Everytime I've seen her, she's always wearing the same-"

"-UHH."

Fenton stopped himself, realizing that he almost revealed his secret identity to another citizen.

"The uh- The reason I came here specifically is that your home is giving off insurmountable supernatural readings on my gizmo-scanner."

"By simple deduction, an evil witch would like Magica would give off great amounts of supernatural energy and magic..."

"If you are at all concerned about these readings, I have a gallon of holy water and a hymn playlist that can be played under no obligations."

Fenton offered with a nervous smile, as the young duck's silent stare was beginning to unnerve him.

"...That's Webbigail for you. Purple pink and blue are her definite spiritual colours."

"Wait, you know her?" The superhero rubbed his helmet.

"...Come inside." The odd little duck motioned for him to enter.

After quickly cleaning off his tire, Fenton ducked and rolled into the small living room.

"Have a seat..." The duck sat on the leather couch in the corner.

"So uh, how do you know Webby?" Fenton asked after carefully sitting down next to him.

"My name is Violet Sabrewing. I was there when Magica kidnapped Webbigail from McDuck Manor."

"Violet? Uh, Wow. I didn't know that was a boy's name." Fenton marveled at the teen's unusual name.

"It's not. Before Magica took Webbigail away, everyone else there was cursed to be trapped in someone else's body, while also transforming her niece Lena into a common swine."

"...And I got swapped with one of Webbigail's friends named Randy."

"Oh! Well that explains-"

"I've been working on a potion the should reverse the transformation spell on Lena." Violet interrupted the superhero.

"But the brew keeps boiling over and making a mess everywhere."

"...Okay." Fenton got up from the couch.

"It seems there's no evil afoot here. I'll be on my way."

"But uh, where's you mom and dad? Certainly they don't approve of you being home alone."

"...I don't have a mom." Violet answered with a extreme lack of emotion and intrest.

"Oh, sorry!"

Fenton quickly apologized in a sincere tone.

"I, know what it's like to lose someone close to you..."

"I never knew my mother, or my father."

"...So you're adopted then?" The superhero raised an eyebrow underneath his helmet.

"Well I hope your dad finds his special someone soon."

"Don't worry, they have..." Violet said as she casually walked off to her room.

* * *

"...This is perfect." A short beagle boy peered through the window at Fenton and laughed.

"Okay. After Gizmoduck finishes his business in there, we follow him."

"Uh Bigtime? I thought we were gonna rob this place. I don't really see the point of following Gizmoduck." A particularly large and muscular beagle boy asked.

"Dooohh. You and Burger don't see the point of ANYTHING, because you're uncreative, small-time thinkers!"

"Now me... I'm Bigtime."

The skinny beagle boy quietly muttered something incoherent in Bouncer's ear and stood still.

"...Your brother and me both agree that we should stick to normal, small-time crimes until Ma gets back."

"And kidnapping Gizmoduck is a bit far from-"

SLAP!

"You lunkheads! We're not gonna kidnap Gizmoduck! We're gonna let him LEAD us to the thing Ma wants most in this world!"

"...Better kids?"

"...NO YOU-"

SLAP!

"-Not, better kids."

"A feathered kid. Named Webby."

Bouncer and Burger quickly looked at each other and back at their brother.

"Come again."

SLAP!

Bigtime slapped himself in the face.

"Webby Vanderquack! The kid that got Ma busted a year ago and ruined her birthday party!"

"I heard Ma talking about her in her sleep before she left. And how she wanted to teach that feathered nuisance a lesson!"

"...Are you sure she wasn't talking about you?" Bouncer questined.

"Doohh!"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE FEATHERS?!" Bigtime yelled in his much bigger brother's face.

"...Well you did start that big pillow fight a week ago."

"That's besides the point!"

"Don't you see? Just two days ago Magica De Spell kidnapped Webby."

"Now, we let Gizmoduck track them both down with his gizmo-scanner thingy and find Magica. As superheroes always find the villain's hideout."

"Then we swoop in and grab Webby!"

"Uh, Bigtime? Rescuing a kidnapped little girl, that doesn't sound very in character for the Beagle family..."

Bigtime almost slapped himself in the face again before stopping himself and slapping Burger instead.

"We're not gonna rescue Webby! We're gonna re-kidnap her for Ma!"

"And after we get her back to the junkyard, we'll tie her up in cute little ribbons and put her in a box."

"Think about it, she'll be our welcome home gift to Ma..."

"Ma said it would be awhile before she'd get back. I don't think she'd appreciate a dead kid in a box."

"Okay fine! We'll take her to the junkyard and take care of her in the meantime."

"What do ducks like to eat?"

"...Bread?"

Bigtime instintivly lifted his hand to slap his brother in the face, but quickly calmed himself down.

"Bouncer, that's the smartest thing you've said all day."

The short beagle boy laughed. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when we grab her. She'll be begging for us to take her back to Magica."

Before the conversation could escalate further, the three criminals heard the front door of the house close.

Peeking around the corner, they saw Fenton fly off into Duckburg in his gizmosuit.

"Eh! We can't lose him! Hurry!"

After tripping over themselves a few times, the beagle boys quickly ran after Gizmoduck.

* * *

"Okay Fenton. This could be it. Stay alert, watch your back, and don't take any decorative apples..."

The superhero knocked on the door of Doofus Drake's mansion, breathing anxiously.

"You can handle this Fenton, you faced off against countless evils. A vengeance fueled witch like Magica should be a piece of cake."

"All you have to do is aprehend Magica and return Webbigail home safely. All without dying or possibly being cursed to live forever while bleeding endlessly from your- I'm going to need backup." Fenton instantly turned around to head back to Gyro's laboratory.

But before the superhero could blast back to home base, he heard a loud cough from the door behind him.

"Can I help you?" A well dressed butler stood below Fenton.

"...Uh, Hi."

"Uh, I mean- Greetings citizen!"

"In case you haven't heard the recent news, a local little girl was adducted two days ago by a witch named Magica De Spell."

"Her name is Webbigail Vanderquack, she's eleven years old, and she was last seen wearing the clothes she's wearing in the photo."

The superhero handed the butler the photo of Webby.

"The reason I came here is that this mansion is giving off astronomical supernatural readings on my gizmo-scanner."

"So either Magica has broken into your mansion and is holding Webby and everyone else in there captive, or you have possibly the worst case of house haunting in recorded history."

Fenton tried to make light of the situation by laughing it off.

"Uh, would it possibly be okay for you to allow me to search your mansion? Possibly?"

Without saying a single word, the butler walked up to the front doors of the mansion and opened them wide.

"...YOU shall pass."

"Oh! Uh, thanks! I, won't be long." Fenton thanked the servant with a smile.

"Thanks for your time citizen!" Fenton walked onto the front porch of the mansion.

"Remember, be sure to call the local authorities if you hear or see anything suspicious."

The butler closed the door and sighed as the latin duck left.

"If only we could all be as ignorant as you..."

* * *

Deep from within Doofus' alluring but haunted mansion in Duckburg, three shadowy figures tiptoed softly through the darkened corridors and hallways. They're motives were far from friendly, and they were more determined than ever to bring forth their hostile intent.

Squeak-

Squeak-

Squeak-

Squeak-

"Burger! Didn't I tell you to get those shoes fixed?!" Bigtime whispered much louder than the aforementioned squeaking.

The skinny beagle whispered nothing intelligible in his brother's ear.

"Get, rid of them!..."

...

Squeak-

Squeak-

Squeak-

Squ-

"EHH! I told you to get rid of those shoes-"

"But Big Time, Burger's barefooted, see?" Bouncer interrupted.

"Well, then get your feet fixed!"

* * *

In the cloudy waters of a large fishtank in Doofus' pet room, a little duck turned aquatic creature floated just below the breathable surface on her back. Her lungs completely filled with fish contaminated water.

For the past several hours, she had been on the verge of drifting off into a deep, much needed sleep, only to be jolted awake at the last second by the effects of the potion that Magica forced her to drink.

The persistent insomnia lingered on the back of her mind as she tried her best to think up a plan of escape, which was quite difficult to do as both confusing and disturbing images kept reappearing and playing on repeat in her head. She felt like she was slowly losing her mind.

Simply running away wasn't an option, as Magica had already proven it hopeless through her first attempt. And that she didn't have legs to run with a anyway.

Getting Doofus' servents to help her wasn't an option either, as they had both lost the courage to stand up to their son.

She was cold and exhausted. She felt sick to her stomach from hunger and the grimy water. Her tail writhed and contorted uncontrollably. Her clothes were soaked and carelessly ripped apart. Worst of all, she missed her friends and family.

Webby had to admit, Magica really knew what she was doing. In terms revenge, the sorceress had her right were she wanted her. Weak, sick, and humiliated. And unless she gave herself up to her, it would only get worse and worse.

But before the merduck could continue failing to fall fast asleep, she felt a pair of powerful hands lift her out of the fishtank, letting her drenched clothing drip water back into her former glass prison.

"Wha- What is-?" Webby rubbed her tired eyes in a daze as she was promptly dropped into a much smaller fishtank.

After her eyes had adjusted enough to see clearly, she lifted her head out of the sparkling clean water to see Bigtime, Burger, and Bouncer grinning from ear to ear down at her. Webby's face lift up with a deranged smile.

"That's right you little urchin! You're coming home with us n-" The short beagle boy was quickly interrupted by the merduck hugging him tight enough to cause severe damage.

"AhHAHA! I'm so glad to see you guys!"

"Holy schnikes! She's delirious!" Bouncer backed against a wall.

"Erh! We're not rescuing you! We're kidnapping you!" Bigtime forcefully pushed Webby back into the tank and locked the lid.

"I know." The merduck's spoke in a overly cheery, bubbly voice.

"EH! THEN WHY ARE YOU SO HAPPY?!"

"Ugh, nevermind. All that matters is that Ma-"

"What is going on in HERE?!" Ma Beagle stood in the doorway, looking very displeased.

"...Hi Ma."

"Oh."

Bigtime ran over to the fishtank and attempted to lift it up.

"Bouncer!"

The muscular beagle boy lifted the tank with ease and carried it over to his mother.

"Welcome home Ma! Ta da! The thing you want most in this world, Webby Vanderquack!" Bigtime pulled a dirty sheet off the tank to reveal Webby inside. The happy expression on her face had been replaced with an expression of fear.

"You idiot. I don't want Webby. I want the the deed to Duckburg!"

"I thought you wanted better kids..." Bouncer spoke quietly.

"...Put her down!"

In a panic, Bouncer immediately dropped the heavy fishtank on the floor. Surprisingly, it didn't break apart on impact.

"Now go home!"

"But- But Ma!" Bigtime pleaded.

"How many times do I have to tell you morons? Go, HOME!" Ma Beagle pointed towards the open door.

"Nuts. All that sneaking and fishtank swipping for nothing..." Bouncer slowly walked out of the room.

"...Where's your shoes?" Ma Beagle stopped Burger before he could leave.

"We made him take em' off. They squeak something awful Ma." Bigtime explained.

"I don't care if a family of mice is living in them! Put em' back on!"

Following his mother's orders, the skinny beagle boy quickly tied his shoes and followed Bouncer.

Squeak-

Squeak-

Squeak-

Squeak-

"...Well, what are you waiting for?"

"But- But Ma, I don't understand." Bigtime walked up to his mother.

"Ugh. This is all Magica's doing. She planned this whole thing to take down Scrooge and his family. And if we're lucky, we'll get Duckburg back in the process."

"You mean, Beagleburg will rise from the ashes of Duckburg and become the number one criminal capital of the world?"

"Something like that, yes."

"YAA-HOO!" Bigtime leapt into the air in excitement and ran after his brothers.

"I can't wait to tell everybody back at the junkyard!"

After all of Ma Beagle's inept sons had left, she shut and locked the door. Her and Webby were now alone together in the large, dimly light room.

"...So, what's it like being a sea creature?" The criminal walked over to the small fishtank on the floor.

Webby refused to answer. As she knew nothing good would come from it.

"Not fun huh?"

"Well I'll tell you what's really not fun. Having a bunch of failure as criminal sons working for you..."

"And I'll admit it. You're more competent then all of my sons combined..."

Ma Beagle's unexpected compliment got Webby's attention.

"...Really?"

The criminal nodded.

"Bigtime and Magica have the same problem, they make things way too complicated."

"If she wanted too, Magica could have struck Scrooge and his entire family dead days ago."

"But did she? Nooooo."

"If I had her powers, you'd all be burning in hell..."

"OKAAY!" A booming magical voice echoed from out of nowhere.

"I'd HATE to interrupt your smalltalk, but it's time for a professional to TAKE OVER."

The Sorceress of the Shadows instantly teleported into the room in a red could of smoke.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to deal with one of Scrooge's lackeys..."

"HEEEY WEBBY! It's ME, your loving Aunt Magica!" The sorceress skipped up to merduck and waved.

"So, what's it like being a sea creature?"

Webby frowned and stared back at her crossly.

"Ma Beagle already asked that. And you're not my Aunt Magica..."

Magica paused and turned around.

"Silly me, already forgot you were here."

"Well, you being here won't hurt anything. Just sit back and relax... AND WATCH. AS I TEAR EVERY BIT OF PRIDE AWAY FROM HER."

"AH-HA. AH-HAHAHAHA!"

"...Would you like some popcorn?"

"I'm fine thank you." Ma Beagle sat down in a chair.

"Eh..."

Magica lazily snapped her fingers, causing a bright light to suddenly flash in the room.

After a couple of seconds, Ma Beagle and Webby looked around the room in confusion, as seemingly nothing had changed.

"Notice, anything different?" The sorceress bent down to Webby and smiled. The duckling remained silent in her watery prison.

"Well then let me ask you another question. How long can you hold your breath?"

"...About, eight minut-" Webby's eyes widened in panic. Ignoring her unusually high-pitched and bubbly voice, she began choking and kicking her legs desperately for air.

"Oops, I'm such a fool! Your lungs are already filled with water aren't they?"

The duckling couldn't answer, as she was quickly losing consciousness.

"Hmmm. Let's see how long you can last."

"What are you trying to do, kill her?!" Ma Beagle got up from her chair and approached Magica.

"RE-LAX."

"She's fine, trust me, I've done this before. I know what I'm doing..."

"...She's not moving."

The sorceress glanced to Webby in the fishtank, the water still waving back and forth above her unmoving, smaller body.

"Oh, well this may be a problem."

Before Magica knew what had happened, Ma Beagle lifted up the heavy chair she was sitting in and smashed apart the fishtank with a mighty swing. All of the water inside flowed out onto the carpeted floor.

Working fast, the criminal matriarch immediately grabbed Webby from the broken glass and laid her on her back.

"What did you do to her?! She didn't used to be this small!" Ma Beagle began rapidly pushing down on the unconscious duckling's chest.

"Just a simple age spell. If I'm going to re-train her in the likeness of me, I might as start when she's young..."

"Ughh!"

"How-"

"Much-"

"Younger-"

"Is she?"

Ma Beagle continued trying to revive Webby.

"Well, I shaved off at least seven years off her life. That would make her about..."

"Four."

"...You may have drowned a four year old genius!"

"HEY! Everything was in my control! I was just trying to give her a good scare. I'm a master at-"

"J-Just shut up!"

"UGH! How do I do mouth-to-mouth with a bill?"

Just when Ma Beagle was fully convinced that Magica had killed off Webby, the duckling began weakly coughing and gagging up water. As her much younger body couldn't handle the amount of water in it's system.

"There I saved her life... You're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks for the help. But if you don't mind, I'll take over from here."

"Ahem."

"Webby... Webby..." Magica shock the gradually breathing duckling.

"Magica, your plan will never work." Ma Beagle pulled the undead sorceress aside.

"Excuse ME. What did you just SAY?"

"You heard me right. You're careless, petty, and ignorant. If you really wanted to kill Scrooge and his family you would have done it days ago. Instead, you're just wasting time here abusing and tormenting a defenseless kid that doesn't know any better."

"You don't deserve to be Scrooge McDuck's greatest enemy, even Glomgold has more common sense then you."

"You really are a fool..."

Magica stood dumfounded above Webby, her face displaying a mix of crazed emotions as her soulless eyes twitched and shock in her empty skull.

"YOU. Just don't SEEM to understand MY vision do you?"

"EVERYTHING is going according to MY plan."

"Scrooge's life, his company, his FAMILY. It's ALL under MY CONTROL."

"EVERYTHING! Is in the grasp of my cold, dead hands..."

"...Then kill him." Ma Beagle spoke in an almost emotionless tone.

"If you're so all mighty and powerful, then prove it. Kill him."

"NOOO! PLEASE DON'T- OW! OW! OW!"

Webby fell onto to floor in pain, as it felt like her feet were being slashed apart by dozens of knives.

"WHAAT- What did you-"

The duckling's voice cracked as she realized how much younger and smaller she was. Not wanting to put any more pressure on her feet, she laid on the carpet in her oversized clothing.

"What did YOU DO TO ME?!"

"...Just watch and learn. I'll prove that the only FOOL around here is a little girl named Webbigail Vanderquack."

Magica mockingly walked up to the duckling and forced her to make eye contact. She gasped overdramaticly after getting a look at her tired, red eyes.

"WEBBY! You're eyes! They look awful!"

"..."

The sorceress scooped up the child and lifted her stomach to the side of her head.

"OH MY! Do I hear growling? You're hungry aren't you?"

Webby closed her eyes and nooded.

"And, OH NO! Your clothes! They don't fit anymore!"

"...Yeah, AND WHO'S TO BLAME FOR THAT, MAGICA?!" The duckling snapped.

The sorceress gasped loudy again at Webby's sudden remark.

"Certainly you're not blaming me for this!"

"Personally, if I were you, I'd sue your retailer..."

Webby frowned.

"Well, at least you're still cute." Magica patted her on the back.

"...GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF ME YOU- AAHHH!" The duckling pushed herself out of Magica's grasp and onto the floor.

"Oooh, a bit touchy now aren't we?" The sorceress towered over Webby like a tall tree.

"By the way, like your new legs?"

"...What do you mean, new legs?" Webby asked.

"Why, your old legs were lost forever when you were turned into a merduck. So I gave you a pair of new ones so you could walk around like everyone else."

"Of course, these two new legs are quite a bit different from your old ones."

"For example, aside from my name being permanently printed on your soles, you'll notice that your feet are ten times more susceptible to pain."

"So whenever you put any pressure on them, say like standing up or walking-"

"-IT WILL FEEL LIKE A THOUSAND TINY BLADES, CUTTING YOUR FEET INTO ITTY, BITTY, BLOODY BITS!"

"BAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Magica stopped laughing and awkwardly paused.

"...But it doesn't have to be this way you know."

"I can turn you back into an eleven year old-"

"-Undo the curse on your feet."

"Let you get a good night of sleep-"

"-And give you the BEST breakfast you'll ever eat."

"Pancakes, syrup, bacon, hashbrowns, donuts, cinnamon rolls, omelettes. Anything you want. Special for you-"

"-And your Aunt Magica will have it delivered from the cafe down the street..."

"All you have to do is surrender your body and soul to me."

"You're tired... Take my hand." Magica held out a bony hand to the duckling on her hands and knees.

Looking her square in the face, Webby scowled and slapped Magica's hand away.

"I hate omelettes..."

"Okay then, minus the omelettes. How about crumpets?"

"I don't care what you offer me. I'm not giving myself up to you!"

"You hurt my best friend, treated her worse than litter, and tried to destroy me and my family!"

"I don't care if you kill me. Let my death be a lesson to you, you can't hurt people... AND GET AWAY WITH IT!"

"Wha-?"

"RAAAWWWRR!"

Gathering every last bit of her strength, Webby leapt onto the skeleton sorceress and began punching and clawing at her without holding back.

"AAUGH! You little BRAT! I'll-"

"This is for hurting Lena!" The duckling cried and punched Magica in face with a powerful jab, causing a large crack to split down her skull.

Seeing her ally getting brutally savaged by Webby, Ma Beagle backed against the door in fear.

"UGH! NO! You're supposed to fear me! WHY DON'T YOU FEAR MEEEE!?"

"Could you just- SHUT THAT UGLY HOLE IN YOUR FACE ALREADY!"

With tears in her eyes, Webby grabbed Magica's right arm and violently tore it out of it's socket.

"This is for stalking Lena in her sleep!"

Ignoing the excruciating pain in her feet, Webby jumped onto the floor and swung the skeleton arm at Magica's bony legs. Causing her to fall on her chest.

"And THIS is for-"

"-Leaving me tied up with a creepy rich kid that likes to lick people and sniff their butts!"

The duckling drew back her leg and kicked Magica's skull more than hard enough to snap it clean off her shoulders.

With a loud crack, it hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of dutsy pieces, as the sorceress' still terror stricken eyes fell onto the floor like lonely marbles.

Breathing heavily, Webby stared forward into space. As in her currently poor state of mind and drowsiness, her actions paralleled an injured feral animal, fighting desperately for it's life.

"Jeez..." Ma Beagle took off her hat in respect.

"She may have been a fool, but at least she was eager."

After letting the wild animal that was trapped within her return to it's nest, the duckling gave out relieved deep sigh and fell onto her knees...

And she laughed.

What began as only a nervous quiet giggle slowy built up to a loud, witches' cackle, as Webby tried to catch her breath in between her laughs.

The lack of sleep, combined with the hunger pangs and much younger body had quickly eaten away at her mind.

With a lengthy silent chuckle, she fell onto her side and continued hyperventilating.

"YEESS. I did it IT! Magica De Spell is dead!"

Webby smiled and writhed on the floor.

"First Black Heron, and- And now Magica!"

"YES! Lena is finally safe! And- And- And- And-"

The duckling's frantic monologue was abruptly interrupted by a slow consistent clapping from the darkened corner of the room.

Just barely visible in the inky blackness was a large slender shadow that stared back at Webby with piercing, calm red eyes.

"...Nice try."

Like a cat pouncing it's prey, the dark shadow leapt towards the duckling and pinned her against the wall.

"Yeeep. Not dead yeett..."

The sorceress turned away from the struggling duckling and towards Ma Beagle.

"As I was saying, just WATCH and LEARN. Have you ever seen a fool... DO THIS?!"

After enlarging the size of her fist, Magica punched Webby straight in the stomach, knocking all of the breath out of her.

"Yes. You enjoy this don't you? You dirty little masochist." The sorceress grinned in sadistic glee.

"Any normal brat would have surrendered by now, but you..."

"You continue to defy me, making me hurt you."

"You love this..."

Webby squirmed in Magica's grasp, tears running down her face.

"N-No, I, I-"

'Don't lie to me child!" The shadow shook the duckling.

"Heh heh. You foolish little fool. You could have been honest with me. Instead, you wasted all my time with the small stuff."

"You're quite a clever little girl aren't you Webby? Tricking me into hurting you when you actually wanted to be hurt."

"I congratulate you... and for such cleverness, you deserve a prize."

"Here, I believe it's time I gave you your just reward..."

"W-W-Wait, Magica! Somebody-"

"Ah ah ah!"

"Just relax my child, and let the pain invigorate the deepest parts of your dark soul's most cherished desires."

"Now open wide for the AIR-PLAAANE!"

The sorceress forced Webby's bill wide open and stuffed a large dental gag in her mouth.

"...Oh, and try not to drool too much on your Aunt Magica, okay?

"Magica? What are you doing? And where did you get that thing?" Ma Beagle asked in genuine confusion.

"Just getting closer to my niece, that's all..."

"Oh, and I got the gag from Doofus. Said it was barely used, despite the blood and saliva all over it."

"NOW THEN-" Magica patted Webby on the head and wiped away her tears.

"-I'm going in."

The Sorceress of the Shadows dove headfirst into the duckling's mouth and slowy filled every part of her body with her dark, shadowy essence.

Webby shrieked and struggled on the floor as her vision blacked out and Magica's arms erupted from her eyes.

"Holy-" Ma Beagle almost fled the room in disgust.

"Now that's messed up..."

The panicking duckling choked and and gagged violently as she was literally drowning in Magica's essence. In her struggle, the dental gag fell to the floor.

"MAGICA- STOP- UGHH! PLEASE!- KILL, ME-"

"Excuse me..." The sorceress stopped pumping her dark magic into Webby's body and spoke from within her rapidly beating heart.

"KILL YOU?"

"Webby, I would never kill you."

"No... I'll just hold you on the edge between life and death. Dangling your sweet demise right in front of your face. Yet you'll never be able to reach it."

"Do you want this all to stop? To wake up from this terrible nightmare and brush it all underneath the rug?"

Magica gathered all of her shadow essence and finally allowed herself to be vomited up by Webby. She poured out of her mouth like an inky black snake and brushed the drool off her.

"Eck. I told you not to drool..."

With a single wave of her hand, Magica's dry scattred bones reconnected and stood high above the duckling.

Severing herself from Webby, the sorceress reclaimed her skeleton body and stretched out her hand. Although she had lost her eyes, Magica could still somehow see the world from inside her deteriorating form.

"Well, c'mon! Take my hand." Magica held her arm out impatiently while the duckling silently whimpered to herself in a fetal position.

"Ugh! Be reasonable Webby! There's no way you could possibly refuse now. EVEN AFTER ALL THAT? AND YOU STILL REFUSE?!"

"...Oh I see, you're too tired to move aren't you?" Magica chuckled.

"Here, let me help you up..." The sorceress bent down to lift the child to her feet, only to get spit at directly in the face.

Webby glared wordlessly upwards at The Shadow Queen, her eyes buring with intense hatred.

"YOU, WORTHLESS, LITTLE CRETIN!" Magica lifted the duckling in the air from her head feathers and screamed at her.

"WHAT MORE, DO I HAVE TO DO TO YOU, TO BREAK YOU?!"

"UUGH! FINE! IT CONTINUES THEN! No sleep! No food! And no-" the sorceress paused, looking down, she could see Webby clutching at her oversized skirt.

Recognizing the reason for Webby's discomfort, Magica grinned devilishly.

"UH OH! You can't hide it from me. You have to go to the little girl's room don't ya?"

Webby blushed and stuck her hands behind her back.

"...N-No." The duckling tried to avoid eye contact, despite Magica not having any eyes.

"Now don't you fib with me child. I see through your little charade."

"Well unfortunately for you, until you give yourself up to me, you are now banned from every bathroom in the mansion!"

"How do you like THAT? HA!"

Webby frowned and crossed her arms.

"...You never let me go to the bathroom in the first place."

"What, did you think I'd do it in the same water I was swimming in?"

"You're right. That would be gross..." Magica cringed.

"Wait. You held it for TWO DAYS? Webby! I'm impressed!"

"...Well what do you want me to do then? Put on diapers and run aroun-"

The duckling quickly put her hands over mouth. Realizing that she had just given Magica a perfectly humiliating scheme, she blushed harder than before.

"Webby! Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to put you in diapers. That's too good for you. And besides, I'm not changing them..." Magica tried to block out the terrible imagery from her head.

"But I will give you some new clothes though. Your old ones are so, big. You're much too small for them now."

With a snap of her fingers, Magica summoned a cardboard box from thin air and let in fall onto the damp carpeted floor.

"Now let see-" the sorceress dropped Webby on her feet and opened the box.

"AAAHH!" The duckling fell onto her back in pain.

"That's not funny!"

"...Maybe not for you, but for me it is." Magica pulled out two pieces of jet black clothing from the box and held them up.

"Ah, yes. This will just look GREAT on you..."

"Wait-"

"-Just a minute."

Ma Beagle suddenly snatched the clothing away from Magica's skeleton hands and looked them over closely.

"Sheesh, forgot you were here again."

The criminal matriarch unfolded the first piece of clothing to reveal it to be what looked like a cross between a short-cut crop top and a bra.

"What is-" Ma Beagle unfolded the other piece to discover it to be a scanty, close-fitting pair of shorts.

"...Are you kidding me?"

"What? It's a classic." Magica began.

"The villain forces the damsel in distress to wear a particularly revealing or humiliating outfit in order to embarrass and show their superiority over them. I thought a woman like you would be well aware of these cliches."

"But she's only a four year old... Where did you get these anyway?"

"Oh, just a small private company online. You can't find their products in any stores."

"Gee, I wonder why..." Ma Beagle said under her breath.

After snatching back the outfit, the sorceress held the suggestive pieces of clothing in front of Webby and watched her face shift from curiosity to embarrassment.

"There's no way I'm wearing that." The duckling tried to sound serious, dispite her high pitched voice.

"...So you'd rather be naked then?" Magica smirked.

"Don't even think about- Rrrrrrrr FINE! I'LL WEAR YOUR DUMB CLOTHES!" Webby silently cursed and grabbed the swimsuit in anger.

After shortly grumbling to herself, the duckling looked up to see Magica still staring down at her. She hadn't moved an inch.

"..."

"WELL?! What are you waiting for?! Leave so I can change already!"

"...Wait, you thought- Webby! You couldn't possibly put that on all by yourself."

"I mean really, in your condition-"

"Wait WHAATT?!" Webby threw the swimsuit in the air in shock.

"Y-YOU, YOU-"

"Now just relax Webby. It'll be okay..."

Magica bent down to the duckling on the floor and grabbed her oversized, damp shirt.

"MAGICA, NO! I- I CAN DRESS MYSELF!"

"What's the matter Webby? We're both girl's here aren't we? Besides, I've already seen you without clothes. It's not like you can hide anything for me anymore..."

"And I'd like to hurry up and get these on you before you have an, accident."

"Luckily for you, I bought the water-resistant ones. Just in case you end up bound and gagged in a closet and you... you know."

"Realizing that she couldn't talk her kidnapper out of undressing her, Webby fought with all her strength to push Magica's hands away.

"Now don't fight your Aunt Magica." The sorceress ruffled the child's head's feathers in a counterfeit form of affection.

"It will only make things worse for you..."

"You couldn't do this to me if I wasn't a little girl!" Webby tried not to cry as the last bit of her pride was being stripped away from her.

"Yeah, uh huh. Beep, beep beep beep, News flash Weebigail, you are one."

"...Well here's a news flash for you Magica."

Ma Beagle peeked into the room and spoke soft enough so the sorceress couldn't hear her.

"The Beagle organization doesn't have time to waste on useless schemes and petty revenge plots."

"It's about time the role of McDuck's greatest enemy is recast..."

* * *

Deep underneath Scrooge McDuck's money bin in Duckburg, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera entered Gyro's undersea laboratory and walked up to the lonely scientist at his desk.

"Hi Dr. Gearloose!" Fenton took a bite out of a jelly donut.

"...So, how was your day?"

"Completely awe-inspiring!"

"Great. Just great..." The scientist spoke without looking up.

"Uh, did something go wrong? If there's a problem, I can go and fix-"

"UUUUGGH!" Gyro slammed his fists down in frustration and stood up.

"What have you been doing all day?! You where supposed to be here for upgrades and repairs, eight hours ago!"

"Congratulations dummy. You beat your last record by six hours."

"Uh, sorry Dr. Gearloose. I, uh. I must have forgotten."

"UGHH! I must have forgotten... Why haven't you been answering my calls?!"

"Wait, I didn't get any-" Fenton unlocked his phone to see that it was muted and he had eighty-seven missed calls."

"Ohhhh."

"Uh, would you like a lemon donut? It did fall onto the sidewalk, but it should still be edible."

Gyro crossed his arms and gave Fenton and a rather disapproving look.

"Well... Where is it?"

"Uhhh, where is what?"

"Uuggh! The Gizmosuit!"

Fenton paused.

"...What's a Gizmosuit?"


	6. Not Quite a Fool!

Darkness.

An infinite field of complete silence and utter darkness covered an abandoned teen duck like a thick, rain drenched quilt. Trapped underneath it's crushing weight, she felt the callous shadows pushing her to the warm, rock ground.

Heavy iron cuffs were secured tightly around her wrists, ankles, and neck, holding the teen fast against an awkwardly angled stone wall.

The study metal chains stretched out her bony arms and legs far to her sides, forcing her to stand back against the wall, or let her falling body put unnecessary strain on her wrists.

Possibly even worse, the cuff around her neck kept her from letting her head fall forwards. Forcing her to look uncomfortably upwards into the empty blackness.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell out for help to anyone or anything that could hear her. But her words where significantly muffled by a strong leather muzzle strapped tightly around her bill, keeping her from opening her mouth even the slightest.

Calling for help was hopeless. And even if she wasn't muzzled and could speak loud enough so someone could hear her, how could she be so sure they wouldn't tear her apart and gnaw away at her flesh? As anyone that lived in such a place as this was probably not the friendly sort.

Detached from her magical earthly form with only her thoughts and chains to keep her company, the young shadow was completely desolate from the rest of the universe.

Minutes felt like hours. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. This was reality, and Lena was all alone in it.

Letting her tears run down her face, the teen closed her eyes, only to re-open them upon hearing a familiar voice call out to her from the darkness.

"Lenaaaa..."

"Aunt Magica?" Lena could barely speak clear enough to make out her own words.

After shortly waiting to see if she could hear the voice again, a quiet friendly whisper echoed around her.

"Lena..."

In a instant, the chains holding her against the wall snapped apart like twigs, letting the teenager fall to the ground.

Although every instinct in her body was yelling at her to stay put in her little corner of the universe, she unstrapped the muzzle from her bill and slowly made her way forward into the dimly lit tunnel.

"Aunt, Magica?" Lena continued to walk blindly into the unknown.

"Lena!" The voice sharply spoke from behind her, causing Lena to jump in a panic. Looking back, Magica stood tall above her in her familiar, sickly green feathers.

"Lena you silly girl. We're family."

"Now why in the world would you fear your own Aunt? The person who raised you and gave you a shoulder to cry on?"

Not wanting to hear what Magica was telling her, Lena quickly plugged her ears.

"Well excuse ME! It is very rude to cover your ears when someone's speaking to you, you know."

"Especially rude if the person covering their ears is their own flesh and blood..."

"Uhh! I refuse to let you control and boss me around anymore! You may be my aunt, but I want nothing more to do with you! Get out of my life..."

"Lena, don't you understand? You're only fifthteen, a minor. It's my job to look after and care for you until you become an fully-developed, high functioning adult."

"...But that will never happen, will it?" Lena spoke while still covering her ears.

"That's right. Forever fifthteen! You're like a little goth Peter Pan. Bound to your Aunt Magica for all eternity."

"Well here's how I see it, Magica." Lena uncovered her ears and spoke boldly.

"You've failed me as an Aunt, and a parent."

"You hurt me everytime I disobeyed you, gave me no personal space and privacy, and got me involved in your crazy blood feud revenge plot against Scrooge!"

"It would have been better if I died in the subway crash. Then you would at least be still trapped inside Scrooge's Number One Dime."

"Scrooge McDuck- No, Uncle Scrooge, has been a TEN TIMES better parent to me than you have. It's all over Magica. Get yourself a new puppet..."

Lena turned her back on Magica and walked off into the darkness.

"You're right Lena. It is all over..."

The sorceress snapped her fingers.

Hearing the sharp snap, Lena paused, unsure what would happen next.

"...Hi! I'm Webby." A particularly childlike and overly cheerful voice rang out.

"Webby?!" The surprised teenager looked in all directions after recognizing her friend's voice.

"Webby dear, would you like to formally introduce yourself to our guest?" Magica spoke without a hint of malice in her voice.

Before Lena could react, a small darkened figure leapt from above and enthusiastically shook her hand.

"Hi! I'm Webby. Oh- wait, heh, you already knew that. What's your name?"

Lena was speechless.

The young duckling who she called her very best friend, had been reduced to a sickly-green feathered, disfigured version of herself.

Deep cuts and bruises covered every inch of her face and frail body, made visible by her noticeable lack of clothes and her glowing, dilated yellow eyes.

"Wha-WEBBY!?" Lena gasped and stood back in disbelief.

"That's my name!" The duckling stated proudly and smiled.

"Webby De Spell! Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

"No No NOOO!" The shadowy teenager pushed Webby away and covered her eyes, not wanting to see her friend in her current state.

"This can't be real! It's just another nightmare. Wake up, wake up."

After waiting a bit in silence, Lena uncovered her eyes to see Webby running around the hall and laughing to herself.

"Uhh! What did you do to her?! Webby's just a little kid! She didn't do anything to deserve this!"

Magica sighed in audible disappointment.

"Lena, Lena, Lena..."

"Perhaps you forgot to put your thinking cap for the mentally challenged on today."

"...You know, sometimes I wonder who ties your shoes for you in the morning."

"It should be painfully obvious. Even for a simple-minded, brainless little fool like you."

"I already took your previous advice and got myself a new puppet..."

"The biggest improvement she has over you of course, is it that she is actually a REAL person."

"You, are just a shade. An insignificant lack of light from behind my back."

"You... are nothing..."

"Now j-just, wait a second." Lena stuttered from her Aunt's poisonous words.

"You just said that you were my Aunt."

Magica once again sighed and put her hands around Lena.

"You ungrateful little harpy..."

"You should feel lucky that I gave you enough respect to call you family in the first place."

"Most rogue brats like yourself at least once had a mother, a father, or possibly even an annoying snot-nosed little sibling."

"Face it Lena. You can lie to yourself all you want, but no matter how many times you let McDuck call you family, it won't change the fact that your name is Lena."

"Not Lena McDuck, not Lena Sabrewing, not even Lena De Spell-"

The sorceress paused and gripped her niece's neck, forcing her to make eye contact with her.

"-Just simply, Lena..."

"Think about it. The only reason anyone treated you with kindness and friendship is that they felt pity for such a sorry little worthless thing like yourself."

"After all, your only purpose in life was to help release me from Scrooge McDuck's dime anyway."

"What was I supposed to do with you next? Heh-"

"-Sell YOU?"

"Even if someone ignored that unsightly slut-face of yours, once they'd realised that you offer nothing worthwhile in terms of pleasurable enjoyment, they'd throw your ugly tail straight to the curb..."

"I'm not... that ugly- UGHHK!"

Lena was interrupted by cold slender fingers slowly tightening around her neck, like the coils of a powerful, hungry snake.

"Now really Lena, this is just sad. Even for you." Magica's eyes pierced deep through the teenager as she fought weakly against the sorceress' arms.

"Have you even looked in a mirror lately? That chubby little pig physique of yours greatly improved your better looks I have to say..."

"Well, since that you now have nothing left to accomplish in life, I guess it's time to cut you off from it..."

"Put you permanently out of your misery per se."

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a- UUGH! NGHH!" Lena felt her consciousness fading away from her as Magica continued to calmly strangle her to death.

"Well of COURSE it's just a dream, Lena. But then again, that's never stopped me before, killing that is..."

"You think you're safe from me locked up tight in McDuck's mansion?

"HA! That's a laugh."

"I'll snuff you out where you're the most vulnerable and can't fight back, the empty, thoughtless void you call your mind..."

"And after that, I'll tear your soul straight from your lifeless body! And then I'll- I dunno, keep you as a pet or something."

"Treating you better than a mindless animal would be a insult to mindless animals everywhere..."

"I mean, it's better than leaving you trapped in a disgusting rotting pig corpse for the rest of your afterlife. Am I right?"

"S-S-Scrooge..." Lena weakly struggled for her life.

"...But not like this."

"I must admit, I could never actually kill you this way."

"Seeing the life leave your eyes, feeling your breaths trying desperately to work their way through my fingers-"

Magica paused to let Lena breathe again, only to choke her harder than before, repeatedly squeezing her neck.

"-I could do this all day..."

"...But honestly, who has the time for true pleasure?"

"You know what they say, all play and no work makes Jill- Now how exactly does that saying go, again?"

"...All work and no play makes Jack a dull- UUGH." Lena fell flat onto her knees as Magica suddenly jerked her forward.

"Eh, nevermind. Let's just try something a little more interesting already shall we?"

"Now, let, me, think..." The sorceress stuck Lena's head underneath her foot and pondered the almost infinite amount of dark possibilities.

"Ah yes!"

Magica bent down and summoned a noose around Lena's neck and pulled it taut, tying the other end of it to the ceiling.

"You should REALLY enjoy this one Lena-"

"-I know I will..."

"...What's with you and wanting to strangle me to death?" Lena managed to speak despite rope being tightly wrapped around her neck.

"There's other ways to kill people you know!"

"...I, honestly don't know." Magica paused.

"There's just something about you. Or possibly just kids in general..."

"Now then, bottom floor-"

"-your DEMISE!" The sorceress snapped her fingers, letting the teenager fall into a dark, swirling abyss.

"Webby, I'm sorry..." Lena whispered as she prepared herself for her inevitable death.

But right before the teenager met the end of her rope, Magica stopped her fall with her powers, holding her still in a magical aura.

"Now I don't want to leave you HANGING for too LONG." The sorceress floated down to her niece and pinched her cheeks.

"See what I did there?"

"But I believe you have something that belongs to me-"

Magica pressed her finger into the teenager's chest.

"-In here..."

"Oh, and by the way. That wasn't the real Webby back there. Just a decoy so to speak."

"I just wanted to see how you'd react to seeing your, ahem... BEESSST FRIEND, in such a sorry state. You should have seen the look on your face, it was just, priceless!"

"Wait, if- if- Where are you keeping Webby?!" Lena suddenly grew furious with her aunt.

"I swear! If you've hurt one feather on her head, I'll- I'll-" The teenager was abruptly interrupted by a sharp slap to the side of her face.

"You've known me literally your whole life you miserable little fool. You should know me better than this..."

"Of course I've hurt Webby! I'd be a fool not take out my revenge on her while she's weak and vulnerable."

"And I promise, after I'm done with you, I'll break her little mind so badly, she won't even recognize you..."

"...You won't get away with this Magica." Lena growled.

"I promise you, I'll- I'll-"

"You'll do what Lena?" Magica continued to slap her.

"Huh? Huh? What will you do? Anticlimactically die right in front of my face? Give me a break."

"You know what, I'll give you a chance. Take your best shot. Go ahead, take your bes- AAH-UUGH!" Magica recoiled backwards as Lena unexpectedly kicked her right in the stomach.

After shortly looking up to her niece in silent malice, the sorceress tightly wrapped her shadow coils around the teen's arms and legs.

"...Hhmph, brat." Magica snapped her fingers, letting Lena drop down a few feet, hanging her from her neck.

Struggling against the shadows around her, Lena wasn't willing to give up yet.

"Hey! Just be greatful I didn't just let fall ALL the whole way down..." Magica floated in closely, quite enjoying the sounds of her niece being strangled.

"It probably would have snapped your fat head clean off..."

"Now then-" The giddy sorceress magically stuck her hand through Lena's chest and ripped out her amulet, it's purple glow illuminated the two figures in the darkness.

"Since I won't be needing this anymore, I guess I'll just destroy it!"

"Now, heh-heh-heh-" Magica got uncomfortably close to the hanging teenager and squeezed her with her shadows.

"-Any LAST words?!"

Lena wasn't able to answer, as her face was quickly turning a dark shade of purple.

"...I'll have to make a note of this, ask the question before you hang them. Otherwise, it's a bit disappointin-"

Lena woke up in a sudden panic on Scrooge McDuck's kitchen floor. After running around in circles for no particular reason, the pig fell onto her side.

"...It appears you haven't been sleeping well..." A grey featherd duck spoke down to her in an almost completely monotone voice.

After staring at each other for a while in silence, he held up a small flask of green liquid.

"...I've got the potion."

* * *

"So, how exactly is this gonna change Lena back to normal again?" Dewey in Launchpad's body carelessly fiddled the potion in his fingers as Violet finished wrapping a blanket around Lena.

"Please, be careful that!" Violet carefully grasped the potion away from Dewey.

"It was hard enough to explain to my parents what had happened to me, but turning my bedroom into a laboratory of deep occultic research and making a mess everyone... Trying explaining that to the average parent."

"Wait, weren't they more concerned about you being a boy than with the mess in your room?" Dewey questioned.

"...Do you want to be a failure for the rest of your life?" Violet spoke without blinking.

"No-oooo?"

Without speaking back to him, Violet tured around and went back to tending to Lena.

"Let me guess, although it looks like your normal everyday blanket, it's actually infused with magical enzymes, taken from some frightful heartless creature from a dark, demonic realm..."

"Nope, it's just your normal, everyday blanket..."

"Aw man, lame." Dewey sat down next to Lena.

"Well, what's the point of it then?"

Violet sighed.

"Do you really think Lena would appreciate being transformed back into a duck right in front of us while she's not wearing anything?"

Dewey turned to Lena, she nodded in confirmation.

"...I see your point."

Finished with all the preparations, Violet brought the potion to Lena's mouth and poured it all down.

"Sorry about the taste, I'm not sure if you liked lime, or spinach."

After Lena had downed every last drop of the green liquid, she closed her eyes and began shaking.

"Is, that what it's supposed to do?" Dewey backed away from her.

"...Side effects could include, extreme muscle spasms, nausea, vomiting, loss of body control, constipation, and or very specific stiffness."

Everyone in the mansion except Lena turned to look at Violet in silence.

"Well, someone had to test it out..."

Poof!

A thick cloud of magical green smoke suddenly consumed the pig on the couch, followed by the sounds of Lena coughing.

"Wait-" The teenager felt herself over underneath the blanket. She was completely clean, lacking the familiar pink dye in her head feathers.

"I'm- I'm a duck again! Violet! You did it!" Lena reached and pulled Violet in a close hug.

"And just for the record, lime... is a much better flavor."

"...I'd hate to disrupt this happy moment, but I feel that I should remind you that you're not wearing any clothes."

"Oh, right." Lena let go of her friend and sheepishly laughed.

"Sorry."

After a bit of awkward silence between them, the teenager frowned and re-adjusted the blanket.

"Magica..."

"What about her?" Scrooge McDuck in Louie's body walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder."

"...She just tried to kill me."

"Wait, do you mean just now? How?"

"She visited me in a dream and tried to hang me, but I somehow woke up before I died."

"Okay, whoa." Dewey interrupted.

"She can kill people through their dreams? That is, very messed up."

"Did she hint at where Webbigail is?" Scrooge asked.

"Magica has the habit of talking her head off and getting lost in her own conversations."

"No..."

"All she said was that after she was done with me, she'd break Webby so badly, she wouldn't even recognize me."

"Sounds like Magica alright. I swear, that cold-hearted witch would do anything just to be able to gloat!"

"Mr. McDuck, I'm worried about Webby. You know it as much as I do, Magica is a terrible person."

"I didn't even tell Webby this, but when I tried to tell you about Magica in your Other Bin, she possessed me, and then... p-punished me..." Lena covered her face with her hands in shame.

"It's okay lass-" Scrooge tried to comfort her.

"-we're here to protect you now."

"No! NO IT'S NOT OKAY! This is all my fault!" Lena finally burst out in tears.

"If I just hadn't let Magica control me, she would still be trapped in your dime!"

"I deserve to be locked up wherever Webby is! And now she's punishing her!"

"I'm- I'm a terrible, wortless person! I don't deserve to LIVE!" Lena let her tears run through her fingers and down her face.

"...Man, and she seemed so happy just a few minutes ago." Dewey commented.

"Everyone, out." Scrooge looked up and pointed towards the door.

After everyone else had left and Scrooge and Lena where alone in the room, he sat down next to her, but not too close.

"You're looking at this the wrong way lass."

"Out of all of us, why do you think Magica tried to kill specifically you?"

"I- I don't know..." Lena wiped her tears off with the blanket.

"I'll tell you why. Who else besides you spent over a decade tied to that wicked old witch, learnt every single one of her weaknesses and insecurities, and is well-versed in the world of magic?"

Lena sniffed.

"...You?"

"Well, you're not wrong. But that's not what I'm getting at."

"Think about it, Magica must have thought you were enough of threat to her to try and kill you before you could think up a fool proof plan to stop her!"

"And right now, Webby could really use one of your fool proof plans..."

"Cheer up lass, you can't let Magica get to you this easily. You must know some way we can track down Webbigail and bring her home. Cause quite frankly, we're all out of ideas."

"...Well, there is something."

"Long before I met Webby, Magica taught me something called 'Scout Interceding'."

"It allows someone to see and feel what someone else is seeing and feeling from a far distance."

"Magica forced me to do this several times in order to spy on you..."

"Sorry Mr. McDuck."

"No need to be so formal lass. Call me Uncle Scrooge."

Wiping away her last tear, Lena smiled and hugged her uncle.

Ka-click!

"Yes! Perfect shot!" Dewey zoomed in on the picture on his phone.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body asked.

"Do you realize how valuable this picture is if we ever need to blackmail Louie again?"

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if that is the case, than this one should one be worth a least ten-thousan-"

"-Hey! You give me that phone this instant Dewford Duck!" Louie in Scrooge's body clawed for his brother's phone.

"Not a chance old man! If you want it so badly, you'll have to catch me first!" Dewey sprinted off to his room.

"What happened to respecting your elders?! I'm old enough to deserve more respect than the president!"

"Duckworth..." Scrooge motioned for his butler to shut the door.

"Della! Tell your earth offspring that moon children were not allowed to-"

"..."

"Thanks, uh- Uncle Scrooge. I feel much better now." Lena felt the anxiety in her heart finally fade away.

"If this is the family I'm going to get involved with, how could I refuse?"

"That's the spirit lass."

"Now c'mon. Get yourself dressed, and let's see if we can use this scout thing to find Webbigail."


	7. Best Friend Connection!

"Find anything yet?" Lena rummaged through Webby's clothes and belongings in her drawers, throwing the various contents inside behind her onto the floor.

"Let's see here, compass, glitter, assorted glowy star stickers, a vial of... something." Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body held up a small glass container with 'Scrooge' written on it.

After pulling out the cork and tossing it aside, the duck stuck his tongue into the liquid inside and licked his lips.

"...Salty."

"Wait, you didn't just taste that did you?" Lena turned to see her best friend's grandmother standing beside a large mountain of clothes.

"Why, what's wrong with it?"

The teenager stood still in absolute silence with a hint of disgust on her face.

"...Nothing."

"Oh boy, listen to this." Louie in Scrooge's body dusted off the cover of a large book.

"101 ways to uncover people's darkest most hidden secrets and get away with it?"

"This is exactly what I was talking about earlier. What normal little girl that lives in a Scottish trillionaire's mansion with a British grandmother as a spy would have something like this?"

"I mean, do we really know Webby? Like really?"

Louie paused as more of his memories suddenly flooded back to him.

"No wait, the dementia must be kicking in. This is definitely a Webby thing..."

"Wait, what are we supposed to be looking for again?"

Lena shut the drawer she was searching through and sighed.

"If I'm remembering this right, in order for the Scout Interceding to work, you have to be in contact with some sort of magical power, and holding the thing the person you're spying on loves the most..."

"So you can't just spy on random people this way, you have to have some sort of spiritual connection to them."

"That would be, the thing they love the most..."

Louie shiftily stuck the book he was holding into his uncle's shirt pocket and leaned against the door frame.

"I don't know about you guys, but that doesn't sound like a very convenient way to spy on someone."

"Having to steal someone's most prized possession just to be able to spy on them?"

"Wouldn't it just be easier to be like? Oh hey, I'm evil. And I'm going to magically spy on you or something creepy like that. Abracadabra."

"Then bam, you're a regular James Pond..."

"It's magic." The teenager's spoke in a tired, scratchy voice.

"If I fully understood it, you wouldn't still be trapped in your uncle's body."

"Yeah, but aren't you kind of like Magica's shadow familiar? She did create you just to spy on Uncle Scrooge right?"

"Look, I know, I'm a terrible spy. But Webby really needs our help."

"I know Aunt-"

"-Uhhh, I, I mean-" Lena stuttered a bit and then corrected herself.

"I know Magica... I was blind to it at first, but after I met Webby and you guys, I realized there was more to the world than just shadows and magic."

"Magica had convinced me that if I helped her get her revenge against Scrooge, my work would be complete and she would give me freedom..."

"...I was a fool to believe her."

"She is nothing but a lying, cheating, heartless witch that wants nothing more than to make everyone around her suffer..."

"I've heard about her type. Yep, no mistaking it." Louie began.

"She's your classic, theatrical, full-blooded sadist."

"Sadists... They get a kick out of hurting people right?" Dewey in Launchpad's body asked.

"Sadist." Huey read aloud.

"A word originating from the French philosopher and writer Duckuis de Sade. Infamous for his obscene acts of violence and abuse against WOMEN AND CHILDREN?!"

"Who put this in the Junior Woodchuck guidebook?"

"Eesh, sounds like Magica is a big fan of this guy's work..." Louie swiped away a webpage on his phone.

"Wait, didn't you say that Magica punished you? What exactly did she do to you anyway? Strap you to a table and- What- Hey!"

"Sorry Lena." Huey quickly pushed his brother aside.

"What is wrong with you man?! Lena's been through enough already. She doesn't want to remember any of that stuff!"

"Uhh. It's fine. Really." The teenager gave a reassuring smile.

"No it's not..."

I'm a Junior Woodchuck and grandmother, I can see through your phony smile. You're torn apart inside... and hungry too!"

"Uhh, can we please get back to finding Webby's most prized possession?" Lena asked.

"The longer it takes us to find it, the longer Webby could be suffering at Magica's hands..."

"Yeah, but what does Webby love the most anyway?" Dewey pondered.

"How's the search going?" Violet in Randy's body suddenly walked into the room.

"Welp, search is over. See you down stairs..." Louie walked past Violet and down the hall.

"...What?"

* * *

A familiar dark orange sunset cast ominous shadows into Scrooge's office as Lena focused her hardest on Webby. Drops of sweat covered her forehead as she closed her eyes and hugged Violet tightly close to her.

"Are you sure Webbigail loves Randy enough for this to work?"

"Yep, no doubt about it." Louie quickly answered.

"She covers almost every single possible sign that she is madly in love with him."

"Increased heart rate, euphoria, sleeplessness, exhilaration, and a heavy dose of erratic violent mood swings..."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer girl."

"Yes, but can people be considered a prized possession in this case?" Violet asked.

"Lena has been at this for quite a while... And she looks like she's straining herself way more than she-"

"Uuuugghh!"

In a instant, Violet was interrupted by a loud frustrated scream from Lena.

The teenager almost threw herself on the floor in a magical fit as she released all the stored up magic inside her.

Breathing heavily, she laid back in Scrooge's chair in a stupor.

"No good... I can't reach Webby. Sorry guys..."

"Huh, I guess a person can't be a prized possession after all." Louie put his hand to his uncle's mouth.

"No... It's-" Lena continued to catch her breath.

"-It's possible. Either Randy isn't Webby's most prized possession... or Magica is somehow blocking me from reaching her."

"Wait. Magica did force you to spy on me once right?" Scrooge in Louie's body asked.

"...Yes."

"Well then what did you-" Scrooge paused, blinking in confusion.

"-How did you get it to work without stealing my Number One Dime?"

"I kept it with me at all times!"

"Sorry, uh... Uncle Scrooge." Lena still wasn't used to calling him her uncle yet.

"But at least at the time, your Number One Time wasn't your most prized possession."

"...Well then what in blazes was it then? Nothing of value of mine has been unaccounted for for decades."

"Uh... I'll- Uh." Lena sheepishly hugged herself, causing her feathers to gradually turn a magical shade of purple.

"I'll tell you later Uncle Scrooge. Right now, we need to focus on Webb-"

The teenager suddenly froze, letting her eyes glaze over in glowing white magic."

"-Uuggh! WEEBBBYY!"

"Of course!" Louie stood up triumphantly besides Lena.

"The only love stronger than the fervent power of young puppy love, is the prue, platonic love between best friends!"

"Webby's most prized possession, the thing she loves most in the world, is you!"

"Friendship, really is magic!"

"...Lena?" Louie finally noticed how eerily still and silent the teenager had become.

"Guys? I... I can't see or hear anything! I, I don't remember this happening the last time! Where-" Lena stumbled around the crowded office, trying to feel for any of her friends.

"Beakley!" Scrooge called out to his housekeeper, alerting her in just enough time to break the teen's fall.

"I can't feel anything either!"

"But that's okay... It's working now, isn't it?"

"It shouldn't be long before we find out where Aunt Magica-"

"-No no! That's not right!" Lena slapped herself in anger and sighed.

"It shouldn't be long before we find out where Magica and Webby are..."

"Then we'll rescue her, and then everything will go back to normal. And then..."

Lena grew quiet, lost deep within her mental prison of complete silence and darkness.

"Webby, please be okay..."

"...What is this sudden warm feeling inside me?" Penumbra clutched her chest.

"It's- It's like I'm actually proud of this rebel earth child and I want to hug and protect her."

"No... I- I can't let this get to me."

"What, what is-"

"Well duh, it's called pride Penny! You're finally defrosting!" Della in Donald's body hugged the moonlander's leg.

"-Moon rats..."

"...So uh, what do we do now?" Launchpad in Dewey's body curiously poked the unresponsive teenager in front of him.

"Put her to bed and let her sleep the rest of the day?"

"Nonsense." Scrooge began.

"She's wide awake. The lass just looks like she's asleep because she's focusing hard on the task at hand."

"...Uh, Uncle Scrooge?" Dewey pointed toward Lena.

"Mentally fighting her way through Magica's insidious dark forces and hexes."

"Mr. McDuck!" Mrs. Beakley in Huey's body interrupted.

"What?! Can't you see I'm trying to-"

Scrooge turned around to see Lena snoring loudly with her tired eyes dilated and wide open.

"-And, she's asleep now..."

"...Lena?"

"Lena! Wake up! This is neither the time nor the place to sleep! Webby could be in danger!" Dewey tugged at the teenager's sweater.

"I know how to wake her up..."

"No living mortal, divine god or shadow can resist the true terror of, The Dewey Duck Tickle Onslaught II!"

The young duck immediately stuck his hands up Lena's shirt and grabbed at her sides.

"...Eesh, weird." Louie commented and slowly backed away.

"Uh, Dewey?" Huey walked up to his brother.

"Lena said she couldn't feel anything earlier. I doubt that will do any-" In a instant, the unsuspecting teenager began laughing loudly and kicking her legs in the air on the floor.

"Ha ha! See. I told you guys it would work!" Dewey stopped his wild assault on Lena.

"Just as I said! No living mortal, divine god, or shadow can resist the true terror of, The Dewey Duck Tickle Onslaught II!

"Trademark Dewey Duck."

"Oh boy, he even trademarked it..." Louie said in a deadpan way as he stared calmly at Lena, still laughing her lungs out on the floor.

"...Lena? You can stop laughing now." Dewey shook the teenager, taking notice of the tears gathering in her eyes.

"Man, that was way more effective than I thought it would be..."

"Well, I guess she could be having a particularly funny, dream." Mrs. Beakley said.

"I had a funny dream once..." Launchpad spoke up.

"Me and Penumbra where at the beach in our bathing suits for our second honeymoon, and-"

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" The angry and confused moonlander lifted Dewey off the floor.

"I would never marry you, not even in your dreams!"

"Funny, you weren't too happy about it then too." Launchpad scratched his chin.

"-When suddenly, out of nowhere! The moon, which looked a lot like the Sunchaser, came crashing down towards us!"

"And then a flying triangle nacho chip guy with one eye gave us plastic tricycles to escape from our inevitable fiery death!"

"How is that even remotely funny?" Mrs. Beakley asked.

"You had to be there..."

"Uh, may I have your attention please?!" Violet spoke with a surprising about of emotion in her voice.

"Something is very wrong with Lena! Her body language is indicating a very high level of stress, and or a panic attack."

"G-G-GUUYYS?! I hear- Ahahahahahaha! M-M-Magicahahahaha!" The teenager laughed and struggled about like a broken puppet on strings.

"A-A-And t-t-two other VOICES!"

"I... s-s-still c-c-cahahahan't see anyahahahahathing!"

"W-W-WAHAHAHAHAHABBY!"

"S-S-She's- STAHAHAHARVINNGG!"

"Tired-"

"-F-F-Freezing!"

"Hands, everywhere... It hurts!"

"Mahahaha- Make it stahahahap!"

"I can't-"

"-help me."

Lena suddenly blacked out and fell face first onto the floor, her limbs still shaking and jerking uncontrollably.

"I think she's having a seizure!" Violet felt the teenager over and supported her head.

"Magica... You treacherous termagant."

"What on earth are you doing to poor Webbigail?" Scrooge looked out his office window and into the night.

"Lena! C'mon! Snap out of it!" Dewey gently slapped her face.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all..."

"LENA!"

"AaaaaaaaaaRRGGHH!" The teenager shrieked and began violently coughing up liquid shadows mixed with pained laughter.

'HhhhhhUUEY! DEWEEEEY! L-L-LOUIIEE!"

"VahahahaIOLEEET!"

"GRANNY! GRANNY!"

"Uncle SCROOOOGE!"

"Where are you?"

"Lena! WHHHHYYY?!"

"WHY WHY WHY WHY?!"

"WEBBY?!" Huey, Dewey, and Louie said aloud in unison and gathered around Lena.

"LENA?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! WHAT'S GOING ON?! LENNAAA!" Dewey was now screaming directly into the teenager's ear.

"WEBBY! I'm sorry for everything!" Louie sobbed into Lena's sweater.

"I'LL NEVER CON YOU INTO BEING MY PERSONAL MAID EVER AGAIN!"

"Wait, and you thought my hobbies were weird?" Dewey asked.

"...She's surprisingly good at folding laundry and catering." Louie suddenly stopped crying.

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME!" Huey shook his brothers.

"Aaarrgh!"

"Ma-Ma-Ma-MAGICA!"

"MAGICA MAGICA MAGICA!" Lena continued her hysterical mantra.

"Lena!"

"You hurt Lena! You MONSTER!"

"I'll... I'll- kiLL yOU." The teenager's voice cracked as she clawed at her face and bawled.

"M-Magica!"

"MAGICCAAA!"

"It-it HURTS! Errrrggh!"

"Strangers are danger!"

"Beakley! Where are you-' Scrooge yelled as his housekeeper covered her face and left the room."

"That's it!" Penumbra preped her ray gun.

"After I find this Magica creep, I'm going to personally reprimand her and then give her a piece of my mind!"

"Speak up earth child! Where's the other earth child?" The moonlander lifted the limp teenager by the collar of her shirt.

"Oh, my, stars..." Penumbra felt her heart sink.

"She's not breathing!"

"She- she can't be-"

...

"...I see something, Lieutenant Penumbra." Lena whispered barely loud enough to hear.

"Yes, YES!" The moonlander burst into tears of joy and hugged her.

"Ha-ha! What a trooper!"

"I'm so proud of-"

Penumbra suddenly grew stoic.

"I mean. Yay, you did it."

"What do you see lass? Can you tell were Webbigail is?" Scrooge asked.

Lena slowy turned her head to face the old duck and blinked.

"I see..."

...

"Me."


	8. A Duckling on Ice!

...

"Wow Webby, nice outfit..." An over stereotypical goth teenager spoke in a sarcastic voice as she bent down to Webby's eye level.

"Did you get it custom made? Cause this is the most feathers I've ever seen you show." The shadowy teen put her hand on her young friend's frost covered stomach and felt her breathing.

"Muh-ha-ha. Cute..." She sneered.

Unbeknownst to the dazed and shivering duckling, she was currently being dangled upside down from her feet by her and Scrooge Duck's greatest enemy, Magica De Spell.

The bitterly cold temperature inside the large walk-in freezer, combined with Webby's inconveniently skimpy clothing, had brought her a terrible chill. Her teeth uncontrollably rattled in her frozen, tape secured bill, as her cruelly bound wrists behind her back had long lost all feeling from their lack of blood. Despite her eyes barely being open and coated over with frozen tears, she was far from consciousness.

"It's... It's ME?!" Lena watched her upside down double through her friend's tired eyes and blinked rapidly.

"This- This has to be one of Magica's tricks!"

"She must be trying to make Webby think that I- I..." the teenager stuttered as she felt a sudden tickly and painful sensation spread across her feet.

"Wha... WHA-HAHAHAHAHA!"

"T-T-TICKLING?!"

"C'mon Webby. You know very well that the more you foolishly turn down my offers of mercy, the more pain and humiliation you'll receive instead."

Magica chuckled to herself as she dug her dry skeleton fingers into her captive's webbed feet.

"You know it deep in your heart, don't you? You hate me with every fiber in your PITIFUL little body."

"And yet, I'm enjoying this..."

"You wouldn't continue to let me do something to you that I love this much, would you? And at your own expense?"

The now conscious duckling let out another quiet cry of pain as the sorceress stood her upright on the frezzing floor.

"Give yourself up to me, and I can make all your dreams can come true."

"But if you just keep on refusing and blubbering like a puny little fool..."

"Well, I'm afraid the only thing that will come true are your darkest nightmares..."

Webby closed her eyes and trembled as she let more tears fall down her face.

"Well?"

The duckling shook her head and bawled.

"Webby, no, no..."

"Hey, hey! It's okay. Your Aunt Magica understands..." The sorceress pulled her in closely and hugged her.

"Wait. She's hugging her now?!"

"...NOOO WEBBY! It's a trap!"

"Here, look at me..." Magica spoke to Webby in a surprisingly comforting tone.

"WEBBY! NO!"

As soon as the duckling opened her eyes, the sorceress immediately maced her directly in the face with pepper spray, causing her to struggle and cry even harder.

"HA! FOOOOOOL!"

* * *

"AHHHH! IT WAS A TRAP!" The teenager rubbed her irritated eyes and laid on Scrooge McDuck's office floor.

"Lena! What happened?! What was a trap?" Dewey in Launchpad's body lifted up the blind teenager in his arms.

"Magica! She- She pepper sprayed Webby!" Lena continued desperately rubbing her eyes.

"She- pepper sprayed HER?!" Scrooge suddenly felt his nephew's stomach drop.

"Why that heartless old broad!"

"Kidnapping the lass was bad enough, but starving and pepper spraying her?!"

"Wait. What is this earth substance you call pepper spray?" Penumbra asked.

"It's an inflammatory concoction used by the police and in self defense to control and incapacitate dangerous criminals or wild animals."

"...Why that's just, uh- heartless!" The moonlander tried to sound sure of herself.

"She's- Uuurrgh! Literally heartless now." Lena stuttered as she tried her best ignore the unbearable mix of insomnia, hunger pangs, cold, and burning in her eyes.

"I got a good look at her... And unless Webby is hallucinating, Magica turned herself into a living skeleton..."

"Well, besides it actually sounding kinda cool, why would she do that?" Dewey asked.

"Aaaaugh! ...Equivalent exchange!" Lena answered while still in pain.

"Hmmmm." Louie in Scrooge's body thought for a bit.

"Yep, makes sense. Great power comes with a price after all."

"Yeah, and she also has her tied up in a freezer..." Lena felt Webby fighting against the ropes around her wrists.

"WHHAaaah?! She's keeping her in a freezer?" Dewey was stunned.

"She must want to keep her fresh until she eventually chops her up drinks her bloo-"

"No, no! It's one of those big freezers that you walk into." Lena interrupted.

"The other me said Webby was showing a lot of feathers, so Magica must be forcing her to wear something light enough to not protect her from the cold..."

"Well, we have to give Magica some credit..." Louie began.

"...What credit could you possibly give to that vile old harlot?" Scrooge folded his arms.

"At least she's not n-" Louie was quickly interrupted by a sharp jab in the back from Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body.

"Heheh. You know what? Nevermind..."

"Well, Webby's been able to easily slip out of ropes before." Dewey walked up to Lena.

"Couldn't she just, I dunno... Webby her way out? She's quite the escape artist."

"I- I don't know!" The blind teenager stopped rubbing her eyes.

"Dewey is right. This doesn't sound like the Webby we all know and love." Huey finally spoke up.

"Why just two weeks ago, she worked her way out of a triple fed constrictor knot in less than five minutes..."

"Wait, how would you know that?" Dewey asked in genuine curiosity.

"I was the one who tied her up."

After an uncomfortable amount of awkward silence among them, Huey sighed.

"It's a Junior Woodchuck thing..."

"I'm beginning to get just a little bit suspicious of you two..." Louie stared accusingly at his brothers.

"Hey, I never left her side for a second! And she agreed to it!"

"And don't forget, you're the one who conned her into being your maid!"

"Well! It's- It's not like I forced her to wear a tastless maid outfit to go along with it!" Louie quickly explained.

"Just a simple, little, frilly laced apron."

"I was just subtly preparing her for life in the real world... Having the honor of serving future rich big-shots like me."

"And I ask you, who's the real victim here?"

"Still Webby. Because she's been kidnapped by a powerful and sadistic sorceress who's torturing and starving her..." Huey replied.

"Oooh, touché Hubert. Touché."

"PLEASE!" Violet in Randy's body intervened.

"Webbigail's situation, remember?"

"The lass is right, we need to focus!"

"Lena! What is going on in that oversized icebox? Who else is there?" Scrooge McDuck's sat the teenager down in his office chair.

"...Lena?"

"Hmm? Oh, besides Magica and the other me?"

"Uh, let me think..." Lena sat forward in her seat with her eyes still closed.

"I- I didn't get a good look at them, but it was two people I haven't seen before..."

"Ok, what did they look like? What were they wearing?" Scrooge asked.

"Well, the first one was a demented looking duck in a cape and mask... And the another one was some weird kid with glasses waving a magic wand around..."

Dewey blinked.

"...Harry Otter?"

"No, NO!" Lena quickly corrected.

"He was a duck too!"

"...A weird duck kid, with glasses, waving a magic wand around?"

Louie felt his heart sink.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"What? Do you think it's Doofus Drake?" Dewey noticed how worried his brother had suddenly grown.

"Doofus... Drake?" Lena questioned.

"Who's- Doofus Drake?" Scrooge looked confused.

"...A psycho and inhuman rich kid that likes to torture and imprison unsuspecting kids in his mansion and treats his parents like SLAAVES!" Louie waved his arms in the air.

"If he ever got his hands on poor Webby, he'd probably chain her to the wall, and- and sniff her feathers, and- and lick her face, and- and stick his sweaty hands up her skirt, and- and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa- WHOA!" Dewey clamped Louie's bill shut.

"There are CHILDREN present. We get the point..."

"C'mon, you've got to be exaggerating." Scrooge began.

"You're making him out to be a psychopathic holy terror..."

"I'm sure he's just some, poor... unfortunately named billionaire child that just needs to make some close friends."

"Mmmmmm! Nuh-uh! Louie pushed his brother away.

"Doofus is an unfeeling monster! He- He could possibly be more evil than MAGICA!"

"Wait, from the way you're talking, you're implying that he's working with Magica."

"Why would he do that?" Scrooge asked.

"...To get revenge on me." Louie quietly answered.

"What, why? What does he even have against you?"

"...Well-"

"Uuggghhhh!"

"Scrooge and Louie's conversation was abruptly interrupted by a loud cry of pain as Lena winced in her chair.

"NO, LENA!" Louie immediately came to her aid.

"Uhh! Tell me, where does it hurt?!"

"R-Ribs..." The teenager clutched her chest.

"...It feels like Webby was kicked in the ribs."

"Ohhhhhhh, a swift kick in the ribs. Heheh, should have seen that one coming."

Louie paused.

"Wait, NO! That's terrible!"

"Uugghhh- urk!" Lena feel onto the floor in pain.

"...S-Stomach."

"I- I can feel it. Webby is sick and injured. I- I think she needs to go to the hospital..."

"Webbigail." Violet picked up a framed picture of Webby and Mrs. Beakley on Scrooge's desk.

"I don't know when, and I don't know how, but somehow we'll get you out of there."

"Uhh- UGHH!" Lena accidentally bumped into her friend, causing the picture to fall to the floor and cracking the glass across Webby's face.

"That's- ominous..." Dewey commented.

"...Stay strong Webbigail."

* * *

...

"Webby,"

"Woo-oo."

Magica stopped choking her blind captive to stomp down hard on her legs.

"In my clutches, you'll need CRUTCHES!"

"Webby,"

"Woo-oo."

"Screams of terror, be with you..."

"Uh- FOREVER!"

"Webby,"

The sorceress violently threw the crying and shivering duckling onto the freezing floor.

"Woo-oo."

"Ah-hahahahahahaha!" Magica let out a joyful laugh as she crushed Webby's stomach underneath her foot.

"Rule number one of life, do what makes you HAPPY."

"And I deserve to be happy Webby! I deserve to live a life to be excited for! And I'm not going to let some old FOOL of a duck take it away from me..."

Magica finished with a sharp slap to the side of Webby's pepper spray burned face, causing her to squeak through her still tape secured bill.

"Say, uh- Do you think we're going a little too far?" A masked duck in thick jacket and parka asked.

"Noooo-oope!" The sorceress replied in a immature tone of voice.

"Honsetly, she deserves every second of this living circle of Hades I'm putting her through."

"It doesn't matter if she's a child or not, she brought this all onto herself."

"And now she's paying the heavy price, of antagonizing- Magica De Spell..."

The former actor rubbed his hands together and gave a wicked smile.

"I was HOPING you'd say that..."

"May I?"

"...Be my guest darling." Magica stepped back.

Lifting the duckling off the floor and putting her on her feet, the duck tore the tape from around her bill.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh! ANY OB-JECTIONS?" He smirked devilishly.

Webby remained silent as she breathed short and heavy breaths.

"...I don't mind." Doofus said as he dug out another handful of frozen canned tuna and scarfed it down.

"She needs a lesson, in obeying orders..."

"At her current state, she's like a wild, bucking mare, in desperate need of a good bit."

"Okay... Now then-" Starling pulled out a long cigar and lit the end of it.

"-Let's, get, merciless."

The masked duck pried open Webby's bill and stuck the fat stick of dried leaves inside.

After quickly recognizing the scent of tabacoo, Webby shook her head and spit it out.

"Blah! SMOKING?!"

"I'm- I'm too young to smoke! And much too innocent!" The still blind duckling struggled against the ropes tying her wrists togther and kicked at nothing in particular.

"Spirited eh?" Starling laughed sadistically and gripped her tighter.

"I hate that..."

"I- I, I won't be spirtred!" Webby began blinking rapidly in an attempt to see again.

"...Just- Please. Why are you doing this to me?! I didn't even do anything to you!"

"Hey, don't give up yet-"

"-Here, have another cigar... In fact, you can have all of them."

"They're one the HOUSE!" Starling stuffed two large handfuls of lit cigars into the duckling's mouth and held her bill closed.

"N-No, no NO- Mmmmmmm-"

"C'mon, puff."

Webby held her breath and struggled fiercely as the masked duck plugged her nostrils with his fingers.

"Just give it up..."

"You have to breathe SOMETIIIMME."

The duckling only shook her head and whimpered.

"You're being SPIRITED AGAIIIIN! And you know I HATE that..." Starling spoke in a low, growling voice.

"...Okay, what do think about THIS!?"

The masked duck immediately pulled out all of the cigars from her mouth and clamped down on one of Webby's front teeth with a pair of pliers.

"AHH! S-STOP! STOP!" She fought hard against the ropes around her wrists.

"TOO LATE! It's already, coming, OUT!" Starling violently yanked the tooth free from the duckling's mouth.

"Aw look, you're bleeding. How sad for you..." The duck wiped away the blood from her inside her bill and chuckled softly.

"Let's see how many of your teeth I can pull before!-"

"OKAY OKAY OKAY!" Webby cried and kicked blindly in the air on the floor.

"I'll- I-ll puff..."

"...Nice to see you're finally seeing things my way kid." Starling held the shivering duckling on the floor by her neck and stuck the several lit cigars in her bill.

"Why, Jim darling. You're a natural." Magica complimented him and stroked Webby's feet with her fingers, causing her to wriggle underneath them.

"Heh-heh-heh, Thanks I know."

"I've always wanted to do stuff like this full-time when I was a kid."

"But mom... she was very disappointed in me. Me taking after my old man like that."

"Just because I liked to do... certain things to butterflies, kittens, other kids."

"So she sent me to acting school, where I became that, OH SO goody-two-shoes, night flapping vigilante, Darkwing Duck..."

"WHA-Uughh?!" Webby suddenly coughed up a thick cloud of tobacco smoke in shock.

"JIM STARLING!?" Her eyes opened widely in fear.

"Dewey told me you were DEAD!"

"...I did die. But I've returned from the dark depths of hell to terrorize to populace!" Jim proudly announced.

"Just you wait, bombs will go off in the hospitals! Churches will burn down to the ground! Trucks will plow through the crowded streets! Entire CITIES will be blown SKY HIGH!"

"It will be- so beautiful..."

"And just WHO DO YOU SUPPOSE will try to stop MEEEEEE?"

Webby blinked as she pulled her knees close to her face.

"Gizmoduck?"

"...NOOO!" The deranged actor's eyes glazed over in madness as he lifted the terrified duckling in the air by her bill.

"That self-centered, empty-headed jackanape that stole my role as Darkwing Duck!"

The duck stopped to breathe heavily as his fingers shook and twisted.

"And once he shows his pug-ugly ponce face out there in the open-"

"-I'll skin him alive..."

"You're insane!" Webby managed to say as she was still being held up by her bill.

"...You call it insanity."

"I call it... enlightenment..."

"After all-" Jim gently laid the duckling on her bare stomach and put his right foot on her back.

"-I am the HORROR that stalks in the NIGHT!"

"I am the overpowered final boss, in the game of life!"

"I- AM- still not sure what to call myself now..."

"...What about Negaduck?" Webby asked.

"You know, like negative, Darkwing Duck?"

"Hmmmm... Not bad kid."

"...Wait." The duckling paused.

"I didn't mean-"

"Say, how would you like to be my personal sidekick? The masked duck offered with a smile.

"Just you and me, out there together. What do you say?"

Webby just stared upwards and frowned.

"...No?"

"Aw, such a pity. I actually like you you know..."

"Nnnhg!"

"If you really liked me, you- you would't treat me like this!" Webby strained against the ropes around her wrists.

"What about Magica?! You obviously like her!"

"Treat her the same way you've been treating me, and then maybe I'll accept your offer!"

"...Don't get smart with me kid." Jim pulled Webby's face close to his.

"I don't think you need to GUESS what happens to smart-mouthed little kids around here!"

The masked duck dug out an oversized gun from his pocket and stuck it in the duckling's amouth with a smirk.

"W-WHAT?! N-No-" The defenseless duckling froze in wide eyed fear as Magica, Doofus, and Lena watched with twisted malicious smiles.

"...Suck gas, angel face."

He pulled the trigger.


	9. HASHTAG MARGICA!

"In recent news, Duckburg police are still searching for a missing eleven-year-old that was reported missing since Thursday the third."

"An Amber Alert was issued that evening for Webbigail Vanderquack, reportedly taken from her apparent residence of McDuck manor."

"Officials are saying to keep a sharp eye out for the woman who is being charged for kidnapping her, along with a hefty series of other serious crimes. Including assault, child neglect, domestic violence, destruction of private property, prostitution, and initiating a war."

"That's right! The same fugitive sorceress involved in The Shadow War over a year ago in Duckburg, Magica De Spell. But was Ms. De Spell vindictive, or the victim?"

"Possibly connected to this very case, an anonymous citizen has suggested a credible lead that Scrooge McDuck could be imprisoning and trafficking foreign refugee children from his trillionaire mansion atop Killmotor Hill."

"Mr. McDuck hasn't come forward to answer any further questions."

"This is Roxanne Featherly. Reporting live fro-" The ambitious news reporter was promptly silenced as a grey feathered finger tapped the blinding bright screen she was being displayed from.

"That, old Scottish rich boomer of a miser..."

"He still doesn't have anything close to a social media presence, and is still somehow getting more attention online than me."

The tech billionaire known as Mark Beaks crushed a small carton of kid's fruit juice with Scrooge McDuck's face crudely drawn on it in his hand threw into the fire in front of him.

"Just you wait McDuck. Soon, you and all your fame will fall straight into the river, and no rescue helicopter will be built to come and save you..."

He picked up another carton of juice from the large wooden pallet beside him and scribbled another face on it with a black marker.

"A squirrel dying in front of your mansion will be more relevant than you after I'm done..."

"Think you can hide yourself and all those kids away in your mansion huh?"

"Well-" Taking out the short plastic straw that came with the carton, he struggled to stab it through the top and slurped out all the juice from inside.

"-You can't hide from me McDuck!"

Beaks got up from his reclining lawnchair that was placed in front of a short pedestal fan. It was plugged into a noisy potable generator and spinning on the highest speed possible.

"You may have your mansion, you may have your millions. You may have your Gizmoduck..."

"But I have-" The lanky parrot dangerously perched himself on the edge of his Waddle skyscraper and snaped his smartphone onto a robotic selfie stick.

"-Superior intellect! Ha-ha!" He waved his phone in the air and lengthened the rod to at least twenty feet long.

"Not counting the most powerful, state of the art, high-speed tech on the planet! Courtesy of Waddle."

"Along with-" Beaks looked down, realizing he was still holding a carton of juice in his hand.

"-Oh. Heh-heh, right." He lightly tossed the empty juice box into the pile of hundreds of burning boxes behind him.

"Okay! Let's see what you're doing in there gramps..." He aimed his phone directly towards Scrooge McDuck's mansion with it's camera recording on one-hundred percent zoom.

"You've gone too far this time McDuck..."

"Getting all the police in Duckburg worked up by reporting your niece kidnapped like that... When they could be spending time with their families... Watching television on their Waddle smart TVs."

"She's been kidnapped all right... Kidnapped by you!"

"In fact, she's probably not even your niece..."

Beaks recklessly dangled himself even farther off the edge of his building, raising his voice over the sounds of the loud city night.

"You hypocrite! This is why Magica hates you so much. You're making her out to be the villain, when YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S UP TO NO GOOD!"

"Can't YOU SEE?! THIS IS WHY SHE WANT'S TO GET REVENGE ON YOU!"

"...Poor Magica."

"Mark my words McDuck!" He yelled out into the darkened city of Duckburg, unaware that a bright-blue light was gathering closely behind him.

"ME! MARK BEAKS! Will fully EXPOSE YOU... for the truly filthy-rich featherbag YOU TRULY AR-" Suddenly, a sturdy hot tub with all sorts of gizmos and gadgets attached to it flashed into reality and crashed down onto the roof of the building.

"-Waaah-ah-AAH!" The ignorant billionaire fell backwards in surprise, losing his grip on the selfie stick.

"No! No, no no no no!" Beaks crawled forward in a panic to retrieve his worthless footage slipping through his fingers and off the roof.

"Oh, no..." He hung off the edge of the building and watched as his brightly illuminated phone screen shattered upon impact.

"Oh, and by the way-" A familiar voice spoke to him from the darkness.

"-Why are you burning kid's juice cartons?"

"No- wait, wait. Ask a stupid guy a stupid question, get a stupid guy answer..."

The voice disappeared along with a bright flash of light.

"...Whhhaaaat-" Beaks was quickly interrupted by the hot tub reappearing right where it had vanished.

"Finally! I'm home!" A younger duck wearing glasses and an ancient greek chiton jumped out of the hot tub and breathed in the contaminated city air, abandoning his five passengers still shrouded in darkness.

"Ahhh. The dusty winds of the vast, free wilderness. The thrill and excitement of gold nuggets and whirlwinds in the air!"

"The- This is not the new west..." The self-important duck looked around, somehow feeling that he had to state the obvious.

"I thought you said you were taking me back to the present west. Not the past... Present... Future... Err. Whatever the devil this place is."

"Uh, sorry Mr. Rockerduck." A latin voice spoke from darkened corner of the roof.

"Must of- Must of set the coordinates for new west."

"Uugh. How in the world do you expect me to become historically famous if I'm here? Dawdling about with-" Rockerduck stepped forward to examine the unusual figure.

"-Uh, I'm not exactly sure what to call you..."

"...A billionaire?" Beaks replied.

"Bah!" He slapped Beaks across the side of his face.

"If you're considered an entrepreneur of the future, the future of the well-respected and dignified filthy rich is looking pretty grim..."

"...Ow." Beaks rubbed his face.

"Eh, whatever. I'll be dead by then anyway." The duck walked away and climbed back into the hot tub.

"Take me back to the past o great wizards! And uh... singular, smooth skinned witch."

"...And maybe afterwards, I won't have you all burned alive at the stake."

"Excuse me... WiiiITTCH?!" A particularly loud and angry feminine voice roared out from the darkness.

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TOO THAT, repulsive reprobate Magica De Spell!"

"Oh holy moon cheese, I'm starting to talk like Scrooge..."

"Wait, Scrooge?" Beaks squinted his eyes enough to see the tall dark shape of Scrooge McDuck's hat and head in the tub.

"Aha! There you are Scrooge! Aahhh-" Beaks ran forward in an attempt to tackle Scrooge to the ground.

With a flying leap, he wrapped his arms around 'Scrooge' and began punching him as hard as he could.

"You've had it McDuck! You should have hired a personal trainer a long time ago... like me."

"Because I, Mark Beaks! Am smarter than the smarties! Trendier than the trendies!"

"...And- Uh oh-" He fell backwards as 'Scrooge' stood several unsettling feet above him.

"No no no! Ahhh- I surrender, I surrender! Please don't hurt me, Please don't hurt me!" Beaks pitifully shielded himself behind his own hands.

"Tougher, than the toughies?" 'Scrooge' clapped his hooves together, unharmed from Mark's prior assault.

"YES-ESS-ESSS!"

"...Wait what?"

Beaks quickly uncovered his eyes to see a decapitated bipedal horse with a stone head of Scrooge on it's neck standing tall in the fire light.

"Oh Hi Mark... Beaks." He slowy clapped in Morse code.

"Hey! You're not Scrooge!" The young billionaire realized angrily.

"YOU, DON'T, SAY?" The horse calmly replied.

'Manny... You can dismember the ineffectual write-off later..." Another voice began.

"Don't forget our urgent mission..." The figure's stren face was suddenly illuminated by the light of a large lightbulb with arms and legs standing on his shoulder.

'Awww." Manny clapped sadly.

"I hope for all your sakes, this, ahem... urgent mission you're referring to is returning me back to my own time." Rockerduck dusted himself off and adjusted his head.

"I have grown quite impatient of your reckless endeavours..."

"Should we really take him back?" Fenton whispered in Gyro's ear.

"This is the infamous robber baron John D. Rockerduck afterall..."

"Wouldn't it be doing history a great favor we just left him-"

"Ap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap." Scrooge's head scientist interrupted.

"Not returning him to the past would re-write history, which most likely will affect the lives of our family trees and disrupt the timeline..."

"...or it would destroy all of time and space."

"Hmm, too many variables. Not sure which is worse..."

"And do you really want to take this wildly demanding, crooked upper class twit along with us?" Gyro spoke aloud.

"I can only take two demanding twits at one time..."

"I hope you don't mean-" Manny began.

"Excuse me, crooked?" Rockerduck acted offended.

"I prefer the term, business savvy."

"Eh, but at least it's nice to see my ultimate importance in your very lives..."

"I just had a thought." Fenton suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, a first for you I see..." Gyro commented.

"What if, the present universe we're currently living in is a re-written timeline brought forth by us time traveling to the past, thus inspiring the concept of time travel in the first place?"

"...Mind, blown." Manny clapped twice, with the most excited expression on his face he could pull off.

"Well, no time to dwell on that..." Gyro stood up calmly and flipped up the hot tub's control panel.

"Off, to the old west!"

"New west!" Rockerduck corrected.

"But, Dr. Gearloose. We have all the time we want, time travel remember?" Fenton reminded.

"The twit has a point." Manny clapped.

"...Shut up."

Gyro flipped a switch and the hot tub vanished out of thin air and into the night sky, leaving Mark all by himself on the roof of his building.

"So... That kinda just happened."

...Bzzt! Bzzt! As if on cue, one Beaks several unharmed smartphones vibrated in his pocket.

Quickly unlocking his phone, he opened up his public E-mail account.

"Ooh, to Mark Beaks... Ha-ha! That's me. M-A-R-K, BEAKS!"

"If you want to get revenge against Scrooge McDuck, meet me at Funso's Fun Zone in an hour. The front door, will be unlocked. Step inside, to make the arrangements."

"Hmmm..." Beaks re-read the message carefully.

"Not sure who BEaGle1234 is, but they sound trustworthy."

"Huuuhhh!" He gasped loudly.

"Of course! Magica! She want's to team up with me so she can get revenge against Scrooge for framing her!"

"Ahh-ha! Well, Ms. De Spell. You picked the right BEAKS for the job!"

"With my superior intellect, and your, oh so sinister revenge monologues..."

"I'll- ...I mean we'll prove once and for all that- Oooh! We should come up with a team name!"

"Ooh! Ooh! How about... Margica?

"I mean, it sounds a whole lot better than Magiark..."

Bzzt! Bzzt! Beak's smartphone vibrated again.

"I am not MAGICA!" The latest message read boldly.

"Ha-Ha! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it... Wanted to surprise me right?" Beaks stuck his phone back into his pocket.

"Okaaayy! Mysterious person who is definitely NOT Magica De Spell, because she doesn't even know how to use technology!"

"See you in exactly... Fifty-seven minutes!"

"Beaks out!"

* * *

...

"Mr. McDuck. Mr. McDuck..."

"SCROOGE McDUC-"

"LAD! WHAT?!" Scrooge in Louie's body stopped circling the small pedestal in the room with him.

Standing in the groove he had dug out, he was now face to face with Della's oldest son, Huey.

"Err, Beakley..."

"...Mr. McDuck, now-"

"-I know, I know." Scrooge interrupted.

"We should have prepared for this. We treated Magica too lightly, let her regain her powers, and snatch Webbigail away from us."

"Your only granddaughter, locked up tight somewhere out there by that wicked witch De Spell."

"And I know what you're going to ask. How is waking in circles in 'The Other Bin' going to get back..."

"I have no idea... Oh how I am so out of ideas."

"No, I was going to ask if you where down here looking for something to help us locate Webby..." Mrs. Beakley spoke with Huey's voice.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing..." Scrooge replied.

"Everything down here is either worthless in locating missing ducklings, or too risky to use in the first place."

"We've hit a dead end... Magica has us right were she wants us."

"We are literally, sitting ducks..."

"UNCLE SCROOGE!" Huey in Beakley's body suddenly burst into the room.

"W-Webby, lungs, smoke, she's dying! Nooooo-" He aimlessly ran back out into the rest of the storage hall.

"La-Lad?!"

"UNCLE SCROOGE!" Dewey in Launchpad's body ran up from out of nowhere and knocked his uncle to the floor.

"...Heh, crashed it."

"What?"

"Uncle Scrooogge!" Dewey lifted his confused uncle in the air and shook him about.

"A zombie is... A zombie is..."

"-Ahhhh no! My precious pamperer!" Louie in Scrooge's body ran into the room in a panic with tears in his eyes.

"Oh wow, neat place..." He immediately calmed down to his casual self.

"Mind if I take a quick, highly-educational look around?"

"Huh? Oh- Oh sure. But! But just don't touch-" Scrooge watched as Louie disappeared from sight.

"Uhhhhh. Anything..."

"...Ummm. May I continue now?" Dewey asked.

"Huh?"

"Uncle Scrooge! The- The zombie of Jim Starling has teamed up with Magica and is attacking Webby!"

"Excuse me, who?"

"JIM STARLING... The famous actor, the guy with the chainsaw... Dewey hinted.

"...Darkwing Duck."

"Wait what?" Scrooge was taken back in shock.

"But, but-"

"Yeah. And not only that, he's also forcing her to smoke cigars!"

"C-CIGARS?!" Mrs. Beakley's mood immediately shifted into anger.

"She's only eleven! Who does that living corpse think he is?!"

"...Negaduck." Dewey ominously loomed over Webby's grandmother.

"The terror that flaps in the night... The licorice jellybean, in the candy dish of goodness...

"Nega-wha?" Scrooge questioned.

"NEGADUCK!" Dewey loudly repeated himself.

"C'mon! You've got younger ears and everything. Your hearing can't be that BAD."

"Well, this is all happening so fast. How are we supposed to keep track of-"

"-Wait, how in blazes did you three kids get in here?"

"Four." Violet in Randy's body stuck her head in the door frame.

"...Five." Launchpad did the same.

"Launchpad you're not a kid..." Violet corrected him.

"But am I really?" Launchpad in Dewey's body spoke in deep thought.

"Ever since that fateful day, I've been beginning to see the light. Am I a man, or am I a child? These are legitimate questions..."

"...I'm not too sure about that answer myself." The hummingbird scratched her chin.

"Uhhh. Violet?" Dewey walked up to Webby's close friend.

"Maybe this is a stupid question... But I've been meaning to ask you-"

"-Where is Randy? I haven't seen him since the night Magica kidnapped Webby. If mean, if he really cared about her that much, shouldn't he be here helping us find out where she is?"

"He's... he's not dead is he?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him either." Violet spoke softly.

"I'm not sure where he lives. Or even if he lives in a house."

"It's like he just, disappeared..."

"...Oh, I just had a terrible thought." Dewey began.

"What if he was just another shadow spy sent by Magica to have Webby fall in love with him, just to break her heart?"

"Remember, she did have an suspiciously strong love for him. Kinda like she was in a trance."

"But would Magica really go that far just to toy with Webby's emotions?" Violet asked.

"Yes." Scrooge answered.

"Oh no, Webby..." Dewey felt his stomach drop.

"Well wherever he is, he took my a body along with him. Unless we find him, I could be stuck like this forever." Violet surprisingly didn't look very concerned.

"Does it feel like you're inhabiting the body of a shadow?" Dewey asked.

"That all depends, what's it like to be a living shadow?"

"I dunno. Have you had the sudden urge to spread across the ground at sunrise yet?"

"...Well, we could ask Lena." Violet completely ignored Dewey's last question.

"Speaking of Lena, shouldn't we-"

"-Hey Uncle Scrooge! Why is there an old police box in room 1963?" Mrs. Beakley was interrupted by Louie yelling down the hall.

"Eh! Lad no!" Hearing his nephew, Scrooge clambered out of the groove in the floor and ran out of the room.

As soon as he reached Louie, he quickly shut the door he was standing beside and attempted to pull him away.

"The stuff down here is dangerous! Apocalypse levels of dangerous!"

"I told you not to touch, anything!"

"Hey, I didn't lay a finger on it. Besides, it was much too old and dusty for my taste. Heh-heh."

"Louie!"

"What? It was just an old, worn out police box. Couldn't be worth more than a couple thousand dollars."

"It's NOT just an old, worn out police box. It's an unstable gate through time. Even barely touching it could send us all... barreling the to ends of time!"

"Time travel? Ha, that's impossible..." Penumbra scoffed as she walked up.

"Nobody could travel through time and live to tell about it."

"Wait..." Launchpad paused as he failed to check his own pulse.

"Does, does that mean we're all ghosts?! Or- Or worse, zombies?!"

"-AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He ran off in fear.

"...What's his deal?" The moonlander asked in genuine concern.

"Eh, nothing. He just thinks he's a time traveling zombie." Scrooge rubbed his forehead.

"-AAAAHHH! MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE!"

...

"Ding!" An imaginary light bulb appeared over Louie's head.

"...What?" Scrooge looked confused.

"What's a ding? Is that a new Earth term Della has failed to tell me about?" Penumbra asked.

"An idea..."

"We travel back in time to stop Webby from kidnapping Magica..." Louie explained proudly.

"...What?" Scrooge spoke after a uncomfortable amount of silence.

"Of, sorry. Heh-heh."

"Just replace Webby with Magica and Magica with Webby then you've got it."

'...I already told you! That police box is dangerou-"

"-In Gyro's time tub!" Louie inturputed his uncle.

"...Oh no! Remember what happened last time? The timephoon." Scrooge reminded him.

"Ugh. Look, Uncle Scrooge. That was all my fault okay? But we have to do something... And fast."

"You heard Lena, Magica is literally torturing Webby."

"If we don't rescue her soon... Or keep her from getting kidnapped in the first place. She could be scarred for the rest of her life..."

Mrs. Beakley sighed.

"Well, what other choice do we have?"

"...Call, Gyro." Louie took out Scrooge's golden flip phone from his pocket and handed it to him.

"Wait." Huey began.

"If we traveled back in time to the night Magica kidnapped Webby, doesn't that mean that we should have already met our future selves as they warned us about what was going to happen?"

"Or does it mean that it's impossible to keep Webby from being kidnapped because- because- our past selves should have- should have-"

"Aaugh! Time travel rules are way too confusing!"

"...At least let's try. Call him already!" Louie waved his hands in the air.

...

"UNCLE SCROOOGGE!" Donald in his sister's body ran full speed down the stairs while tripping a few times on her prosthetic leg before reaching them.

"Aaaaugh! Again?! How do you people keep getting in here?!" Scrooge stop dialing.

"UNCLE SCROOGE! UPSTAIRS! WEBBY! MAGICA! HURRY! WE GOTTA DO SOMETHIIING!"

Scrooge blinked.

"...Donald, even with Della's voice, I can hardly understand a word you say."

"Uuugh." Donald let Della's arms go limp.

"This is exasperating."

"Okay. I definitely understood that..." Scrooge said.

Huey sighed.

"Upstairs, Webby, Magica, hurry..."

"Oh, that makes sense. I thought he might have overloaded the washing machine again..." Scrooge put his phone away.

"...C'mon!" Donald lifted his uncle in his arms and quickly headed for the stairs.

"What?"

* * *

...

"Magica..." Bark Beaks whispered as he cracked open the front door of Funso's Fun Zone and stepped inside.

"Magica baby, your Beaksey is here!" He spoke into the eerie silence and darkness of the child's restaurant.

"Oh Magica... Magica De Speeeeell."

His grettings went unanswered.

"Huh, maybe she got the wrong directio- AAAAAHH!" He turned around to see Ma Beagle standing only inches in front of him with a disapproving expression on her face.

"...Beaks." Her voice was low and irritated.

"Magica? That is you in disguise right?" Beaks lit up her face with his smartphone's built in flashlight.

"Because the real Ma Beagle is much less scary- and also, when did you learn to imitate voic-"

"-Give me that!" The criminal snatched away his phone.

"Okay boys! Come on out!" She called out for her sons.

After ten seconds of only the air conditioning humming softly, Ma Beagle began to get impatient.

"Black Arts... Bigtime... Bouncer... Burger? Ugh! You four better not be getting at the snacks!"

"Wait. You hired the Beagle boys to help us get back at-"

"-Idiot!" Ma Beagle slapped him sharply.

"...Ow." Beaks rubbed his face again.

"I already told you. I am not MAGICA!"

"...Glomgold?" Beaks was almost sure of himself this time.

"For the love of a thousand bleeding hearts... BOYS!"

Dispite her loud and clear order, Ma Beagle was still met silence from her sons.

"Oh for cryin' out-"

"-Everyone here is a fool except me!"

"...Excluding me right?" Beaks asked.

"You idiot. What do you think B-E-A-G-L-E spells?"

"I don't know, let me see." Beaks said as he took back his phone and unlocked it.

"Oh, of course! B-E-A-G-L-E. Bagel." Beaks stated proudly as Ma Beagle stood speechless.

"I should have E-mailed Gabriel Eaglesias..."

"Hey, I've heard of him. He's a smart guy right?"

"...I can't believe it. You're somehow inventing new ways to be even more STUPID! Why do you think Magica would ever want to team up with you?" Ma Beagle asked crossly.

"Because, uh. She's a queen?" The billionaire spoke without looking up.

"Why don't you get your face out of your phone and start using your brain for something useful for once?"

"Oh, heh-heh. I do everything on my phone. As a lot of people do..."

Ma Beagle sighed quietly and re-adjusted her hat.

"Well Mr. Ignoramus McTech Geek. Maybe we can actually use that phone of yours to help take Scrooge McDuck and Magica down..."


	10. D-d-d-danger on Woo-oo Island!

The high summer sun shined brightly down upon six young sunbathers as they basked in warm rays of sunlight on the beach.

As far as the eye could see, tall leafy palm trees were scattered down the clean sandy shoreline, casting angular and funny looking shadows towards the uneven jungle edge.

The low whispering of the cool ocean waves was Mother Nature's lullaby, as Poseidon's gentle breath sprayed salty mist over the long washed-away sand castles.

Not a singular grey cloud dared to block out the sun's heat as flocks of happy seagulls flew across the sunlit and clear blue horizon.

Everything was perfect, calm, and peaceful.

"Ahhhhhhh. Please nobody revive me, I'm in heaven."

Louie refused to move as he laid flat on his back on the warm sand. He was wearing a green pair of swim trunks with dollar bills on them, and his eyes were covered with a pair of thick golden sunglasses.

"Hey! You know this can't be heaven. Do you really think I'd let myself die before I complete my bucket list? I still have yet to cross out, sneak in and out of North Korea, and ride down Niagara Falls in a inner tube."

"Hush now Dewford..." Louie softly interrupted his brother and lazily waved a single hand in the air.

"Now, could you please, the straw? This is as loud as I'm going to allow myself to yell at you..."

"Seriously? Your drink is only inches away from your hand."

Dewey finally sat upwards to see his younger brother tanning in the sun beside him. The older triplet was wearing a short pair of blue swim trunks, and a pair of beach sandles on his feet.

"Just wrap your little fingers around the handle and lift the cup up to your bill. This is Kindergarten levels of skill you know..."

"Nope. Ughhh, still can't reach it." Louie barely even attempted to grab the cup.

"Ugh. Lazy..." Dewey shook his head and stared down at his very laid-back sibling.

"Hurry thine brother. Before my throat gets anymore dehydrated." Louie spoke, still refusing to open his eyes.

"Just stick the straw in my mouth and I'll do the rest..."

"Oh, you want hydration do you?" Dewey smirked and grabbed a yellow plastic bucket beside him.

"...I don't believe I care for that tone in your voice Dewford Duc- What?! HEY!" Louie was interrupted by bucket full of salty sea water splashing onto his face. Standing above him, Dewey held his chin high and proud.

"Oh C'MON! That was a cheap shot and you know it! And may I add? Exponentially predictable..." Louie laid back down in the wet sand underneath him.

"That's right. You fell for one of the oldest tricks known to mankind. The old Bucket O' Water trick!" Dewey stepped forward and dabbed victoriously over his brother.

"Eh, boys will be boys I guess..." Louie sat back up and flicked off the particles of wet sand from his arms.

"...And those sandles of yours are much too tacky."

Webby couldn't help from laughing from Louie's comment.

"Oh, you guys..." The duckling pulled Dewey and Louie together into a close hug, wrapping her arms tightly around both of their necks. She was wearing a simple, pink, one-piece swimsuit.

"W-Webby... Webby!" Dewey said as he struggled against her tight embrace.

"Oxygen. Need it." Louie gasped and let himself go limp.

"Ah ha ha ha. You two are the BEST!" Webby smiled as she swung the two brothers in a circle and lifted them in the air with great strength.

"Uggh! Is this what they ment when they said love HURTS?!" Dewey questioned as Webby hugged him even tighter.

"Who's they?" Louie barely managed to say.

"Well, it obviously wasn't someone that has met Webby before." Dewey continued to struggle.

"...You know, I'm actually starting to like this now." Louie began to breathe slowly and snuggled back against Webby's face.

"Ugh. Again, seriously?" Dewey complained. "Only you could relax at a time like this."

"So... soft." Louie closed his eyes.

"Hmmm..." Lena stood up from her beach towel and lifted her dark sunglasses off her eyes. She was wearing a black one-piece swimsuit with white polka dots all over it.

"Say Webby. As long as Louie is in the right mood, do you mind if I borrow him for a while?" She fliped her pink bang of feathers over her right eye and curled it with her finger.

"Yes, yes... Take me." Louie sighed as Webby released him from her grasp, letting Lena overtake him with hugs and affection.

"Ahhhh. I never dreamed I would literally be smothered with love by a freakishly strong little girl and my own moody shadow angel..."

"Eww. You and your fantasies." Dewey felt like gagging.

"But he's so huggable!" Lena smiled and lifted Louie in the air.

"...Webby? Seriously. Hugging is nice and all. But-"

"-Hug time!" Huey suddenly interrupted his brother and joined Webby in her tight hug.

"Ew, Huey! No, no. Eww. That sunscreen is still is still wet!"

Dewey tried to push himself away as Huey's bare chest rubbed against him. He was wearing an even shorter pair red swim trunks and a shower cap.

"Huey. You've gone way too far into my comfort zone. And your trunks are leaving much to be desired..."

"It's okay Dewey. Just savor the moment." Huey whispered into his brother's ear, rubbing even closer against him.

"Eww, gross. Eww..."

Taking notice of all her close friends standing around hugging it out, Violet slowy tilted her head towards them.

Laying on her back on a beach towel in the sun, she was wearing a modest two-piece purple swimsuit, and a large pair of green sunglasses.

"...Well you all seem very friendly."

"Ugh! ...Understatement!" Dewey gasped desperately for fresh air.

"Eh ha ha. C'mon Violet, join us!" Webby finally loosened her tight hold on Dewey and let him fall backwards.

Quickly backing away from her, Dewey ran towards Violet and whispered in her ear.

"Take my advice Vi. Stay far away from that girl when she's in this sort of mood. Unless you want to feel like a human tube of toothpaste..."

"C'mon Violet!" Webby invited her friend over as she swung Huey around, noticeably making him sick.

"...I'll pass." The young hummingbird laid back down in the sun.

"So wise..." Dewey simply complimented her.

"Awww..." Webby rubbed her shoulders in embarrassment, quickly noticing how sick she had accidently made Huey.

"Oh. heh heh. Sorry..."

"It's just that I'm frezzing out here. And you guys are so warm! I missed you all so much!" She through her arms around Huey and hugged him closely.

"...Webby, we're at the beach, it's summer, the sun is beating down on us. How could you possibly be cold? And we haven't gone anywhere." Huey said as the world had grown eerily quiet.

"...Huh?" The duckling looked around in confusion as all her friends stared silently at her in great concern.

"Webby, are you feeling alright?" Dewey asked as he walked up to her.

"What? S-Sure. Ah ha ha ha ha ha." She laughed nervously, clutching her shoulders in pain.

"I just- I just feel a little sore. That's all..."

"...Webbigail, I think you should lie down for a while." Violet stood up and closely examined Webby's eyes.

"You look like you've seen a ghost... And not the friendly type."

"Whhhaaaaaat? Ah HA HA! No waaaaay!" Webby's facial expressions started to become exaggerated and twisted.

"Say, are you guys hungry? Because I'mmmmmmmmm STARVING!" The frantic duckling began rapidly pacing in circles on the sand, despite her webbed feet burning in pain.

"Boy! I could really go for hamburger right about now!"

"I'm so hungry, I could eat a sword-HORSE!"

"PHEW. THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE." Standing behind his loney snack stand, Manny clapped his hooves together.

"...Webby-"

"-WAIT!" The duckling loudy interrupted Huey.

"Did you guys know, that if you lick a sword-horse's neck, it will- Eh heh heh ha..."

"It will taste like the BEST FLAVOR EVER? OOH! HAMBURGER-HORSIE!

"This is weird..." Louie began.

"It's like, all of Webby's personality traits and quirks are coming out all at the same time. Kinda like out of desperation or something."

"Webby, are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Eh heh ha ha! OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGHT! ...I'm feeling FAN-tastic!" Webby announced to the world.

"FAN-tastic!" She repeated herself.

"Now c'mon! Let's go find that hamburger-horse and CHOP IT UP- Aaaaaaaaahhh!"

The duckling looked down at herself in shock and embarrassment. Her once modest, one-piece swimsuit had been replaced with a scanty, pitch-black two-piece suit that barely covered anything.

"Guys! D-Don't look at me! I'm... indecent! Webby tried her best to cover herself with her hands in shame.

"That's it. She's having a breakdown." Louie looked at her with sympathy and walked up to her.

"Relax Webs. It's not like we can see anything... You're fully covered. See?" The triplet pulled at her swimsuit to prove it.

"Honestly, Huey could take some decency advice from you."

"NOOO! I'm- I'm, huh?" Webby opened her eyes to see herself once again wearing her pink swimsuit as normal.

"But- But-" The duckling's heart rate began to rapidly increase as she stared forward blankly.

"It's okay Webbigail." Violet put a comforting hand around her friend.

"There's nothing wrong with showing off your body shape..."

"Although, taking a closer look, you seem a bit slimmer than usual." She noted.

"Have... you been eating right? That doesn't look very healthy."

The duckling didn't answer. Letting heavy beads of sweat run down her head, she glared silently into space.

"Webby? What's wrong? It isn't like you to phase out like this." Lena shook the now terror-stricken duckling.

"We're your friends. If something is bothering you, we can help you with it if you just tell us what's wrong."

...

"Webby?"

"Webby, please. You're- You're scaring me... What's wrong? Lena pleaded.

...

"Guys... I- I don't know what- what-" The duckling broke down in tears and began sobbing like a frightened toddler.

"-Please, help me. I'm- I'm sca-"

"WEBBY?! Tell us, what's wrong?!" Lena tried her best to comfort her friend.

"It's- It's Magica..." Webby shivered from fear and the quickly dropping temperature.

"She's trying to- She's trying to trick- Aaaaaaahhh!"

The duckling looked up to see that all of her friends had vanished into thin air. She was left all alone on the silent, empty beach.

"G-G-Guys?! T-T-This isn't FUNNY!" Webby tried her best to speak clearly.

"I-I-If this is a prank- then..."

"...Then-"

The duckling froze.

Standing perfectly still, far off in the distance on the shore, stood the tall, shadowy outline of Webby's greatest enemy, Magica De Spell.

Staring coldy at her with a black wand in her hand, the sorceress remained completely motionless in her sickly, green feathers.

"Louie was right... I'm having a breakdown. Just a terrible, nervous breakdown. Heh heh ha." She sat down on the sandy beach, facing away from Magica.

"Just ignore it all, and it will go away. Heh heh." She began drawing in the sand with her finger.

"Okay. Okay. Just... Breathe. Relax."

...

"I know it... Magica is standing right behind me. But- But if I don't look, she won't attack me. Heh heh heh."

"...She won't attack me. Because that Magica, is not real. You're just imagining things."

"Heh heh heh..."

The duckling began slowly turning her head to look behind her.

"-No no no no no no no." She resisted the urge and waved her hands back and forth.

"You're stronger than this Webby! Insane or not! You're not letting some two-bit WITCH get the best of YOU!"

"Eh heh heh HA. Eh ha." Her nervous laughter echoed softly across the barren shore.

"...I wonder if there's a bathroom around here." Webby slowly stood up and cautiously looked in all directions. Magica wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Oh, heh ha! There's one..." She laughed to herself and somersaulted over to a small building that was conveniently located about twenty-five yards away.

Swinging open the door to the ladies' room, she peered into the surprisingly clean restroom inside.

"Careful Webby. This might be just a cleverly disguised tourist trap." The duckling talked to herself as she sneaked around the corner.

"Only the strongest make it out alive..."

* * *

...

"Ahhhhhhh. Please nobody pinch me, I'm in heaven."

Louie refused to move as he laid flat on his back on a fluffy, green beach towel. He was wearing a golden pair of swim trunks with his own face printed all over them, and his eyes were covered with a pair of light-green sunglasses.

"Hey! You know this can't be a dream. Do you really think I'd just relax on the beach, when I could be flying about and slaying all sorts nightmare monsters lucid dreams style?"

"Quiet Dewford..." Louie softly interrupted his brother and lazily waved a single hand in the air.

"Now, if you please, the cup? Your brother demands it."

"Really Louie? Your drink is only inches away from your hand."

Dewey sat upwards to see his younger brother tanning in the sun beside him. The older triplet was wearing a long pair of blue swim trunks and a pair of rubber beach shoes on his feet.

"Just wrap your little fingers around the handle and lift the cup up to your mouth. This is- This is- Ooh! You get the point by now!"

"Nope. Ughhh, still can't reach it." Louie barely even attempted to grab the cup.

"Dewey shook his head and stared down at his very laid-back sibling. "Lazy rascal..."

"Quickly my brother. Before my throat gets anymore dehydrated." Louie spoke, still refusing to open his eyes.

"Just stick the cup in my mouth and I'll do the rest..."

"Oh, you want hydration do you?" Dewey smiled devilishly and grabbed a purple plastic bucket beside him.

"...I don't believe I care for that tone in your voice Dewey Duc- What?! HEY!" Louie was interrupted by bucket full of salty sea water splashing onto his face. Standing above him, Dewey held his chin high and proud.

"Oh C'MON! That was a cheap shot and you know it! And may I add? Much too predictable..." Louie laid back down on the wet beach towel underneath him and took a long sip from his drink.

"That's right. You fell for one of the oldest tricks known to mankind. The old Bucket O' Water trick!" Dewey stepped forward and poorly did the floss dance.

"-HAS ANYONE SEEN A TOILET?!" Webby screamed and suddenly ran up from out of nowhere, causing Louie to messily spit up a full mouthfull of sweet tea from his mouth.

"Uugh! DEWFORD DUCK! You did not just dump dirty toilet water all OVER ME!" Louie angrily shook his confused older brother.

"What? No... Eww." Dewey gently pushed his brother away.

"I would never-"

"-Wait, WHAT?!"

"GUYS! Listen to me!" Webby frantically waved her heavily bruised and discolored hands in the air.

"Magica is somewhere out there! I saw HER! I- I think she's trying to gaslight ME!"

All five of the young duckling's friends stared speechlessly at her. Deep cuts and wounds where visible all of her body, as she once again was wearing a disturbingly familiar, skimpy two-piece swimsuit.

"Webby? Is something wron-" Webby immediately pushed Dewey aside.

"-LENA! VIOLET! LOOK AT ME! DOES THIS LOOK NORMAL TOO YOU?!" She stood breathless in front of both of her friends.

"I... don't quite get you Webby." Lena scratched her chin.

"UGH, NO! This swimsuit! LOOK! I- I CAN'T TAKE IT OFF! I EVEN TRIED USING MY TEETH!" The panicking duckling tugged desperately at her jet-black clothing in her mouth.

"Well thank goodness-" Louie put his hand on her shoulder.

"-It's not that type of beach Webbigail..."

"...NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

"This is a nightmare! This is a nightmare! THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" She shrieked in horror upon seeing bare Lena's wrist.

"W-W-Where- Where's your friendship bracelet?! WHERE IS IT?!"

"Well, I went swimming a little while ago..." Lena ran her fingers through her wet hair feathers.

"It could have fallen off while I was in th-"

"-Nooooooooooooo!"

"Our FRIENDSHIP! Our LOVE! I WON'T LET THE OCEAN TAKE IT!" Webby's voice cracked as she ran down the shore as fast as she could and jumped face first into warm, tropical water.

"...What? She's your friend. Don't blame me for this." Louie casually took another sip from his drink.

* * *

Dark storm clouds gathered overhead as Webby swam full speed towards Lena's floating bracelet in the violent waves.

With a final stroke through the ocean surface, the young duckling reached forward and snatched up her friend's lost trinket.

"Uurrh. GOT IT!" She announced proudly and held the bracelet high above her head.

"GUUuuYS! I GOT IT!" Her now high-pitched voice cracked much worse than usual.

"What?"

She looked herself over while trying her best to stay afloat above the waves. Her close-fitting swimsuit had somehow shrunk down in size with her.

Rain poured and lighting crashed close by as she realized the truth. She was now barely even old enough to walk, and was stranded in the middle of the ocean with not a piece of land in sight.

"Uh oh..."

"AAAAAaahhHHHhh-" Webby's head went under as she struggled desperately to stay a float.

"HUEY! DEWE- LOU-" Salty ocean water poured down her throat and into her lungs, causing her to sink like a rock.

"VIOLET- LENA-"

"Why- didn't you-"

"Tell me-"

"MAGI-"

Everything went black as the duckling was swallowed alive by the cold ocean depths.

* * *

...

...

...

"Enjoy your little swim?"

Webby slowly opened her eyes to see Magica De Spell's dark empty eye sockets locked intensely towards her in a still, emotionless gaze.

The freezing temperature around them seemed to bring time to a slow crawl, as Webby hung upside down from her left foot, her face only inches away from the sorceress' long frozen-over skull.

"Ready to CRA-ACK?" She sneered at the exhausted duckling, gently swinging her back and forth with her rotten bony hand.

"No. I... I refuse..." Webby shut her eyes, barely managing to hold back her tears.

"Lena- Lena- Why?" She whimpered softly to herself.

"Heh heh. Very well you little ingrate..." The sorceress pulled out her magic wand with her free hand and held the tip of it up to her captive's frostbitten face.

"You know. I think I finally get you. You and Scroogey have to exact same problem..."

"You're both TOO stubborn to know when to give up."

"Hmph! Fool."


	11. Shock and Paw!

...

"-Ow."

...

"-Ow."

...

"-OwAAAAAaaAhhh! Rrrrgghh!"

"MAGICA! Please! IT- IT HURTS- HHrrk!" Webby cried and trembled as a small pink dog choker tightened closely around her neck. A short purple leather leash was attached securely to the front of it, as a heart shaped dog tag jingled softly underneath it.

"Now Webby..." The undead skeleton sorceress turned around to face her unwilling captive standing still behind her.

"I know that today has been a bit RUFF. And I hope you can FUR-give ME."

"But I believe I clearly warned you earlier about what happens to little fools that speak without being spoken to and lag behind..."

Magica smirked maliciously down towards the still shivering duckling in the hallway. She had been forcefully dressed in what the sorceress considered to be close enough to a dog costume, replacing the much more revealing outfit she was wearing earlier.

The close fitting leotard was covered with a fuzzy brown fabric that resembled a dog's fur, as a short cloth tail hung from the back end. Completing the look, a pair of triangular dog ears sat above her with a wire headband, and a plastic pet cone was strapped uncomfortably around her neck, obstructing her vision from the sides.

"...Not only do they get a nice little TUG-" Magica stuck her right foot on Webby's stomach and pulled on the leash, significantly tightening the collar around her neck without pulling her to the floor.

"-But they also get another, SHOCKING bit of motivation to go along with it." The sorceress lifted up a small black remote control and held it up with a smug expression on her face.

"Wait! WAIT! Magica please don't!" Webby begged while trying her hardest to untie her bound wrists behind her back.

"...HA!" The sorceress watched with an exaggerated, sadistic smile as she dramatically slamed her thumb down on the remote. Fearing the worst, Webby shut her eyes, bracing herself for the incoming pain.

...

After ten seconds of nothing but silence, the duckling cautiously cracked open an eye too see Magica still standing tall over her.

"Don't hold me in suspense like THIS! Just press the button ALREADY!" Webby blurted out.

"...What?!" Magica began rapidly pressing all the buttons on the remote control at the same time. Hoping at least one of them would do something painful to Webby.

"What is with this stupid- Rwaaagh!" The sorceress threw down the cheap plastic remote in a fit of childish rage, unsuccessful in smashing it apart.

"Blast this inferior shock collar and remote control! This is the last time I steal from the backstreet discount store!"

"...Did you forget to put in the batteries?" Webby asked, her indifference clearly visible in her tired eyes.

"Of course not! What do you take me for, a fool?!" Magica was personally insulted by her captive's question.

"Here look! See? See the A's?" The sorceress dropped the end of the leash and opened the back of the remote for Webby to see.

"SEE?! This isn't my fault! How do those incompetent fools at Duckacell, expect me to properly rub my position of authority and dominance in your face, with defective BATTERIES?!"

"...Oh wait. The batteries are in backwards." Magica stared dumbfounded into the back of the remote.

"Well now! Just wait until your fellow witch and warlock friends hear about this." Webby began, completely forgetting that Magica had let go of her leash.

"The great and powerful sorceress Magica De Spell, can't even work a remote control."

"Oh wait! I forgot! You don't have any friends..." The duckling bent forward and scowled.

"...Hmph!" Magica re-inserted the cold batteries into the remote and shut the back of it.

"You asked for this..." The sorceress aimed the tip of the remote control directly at Webby and pressed the button, sending a powerful jolt of painful electricity through her body.

"Ahh-Ahh-AHHH! MAGI-" Bzzzt! Webby's legs began shaking underneath her as Magica's twisted smile grew wider and wider.

"MAGICA! I'M SORR-" Bzzzt!

"Um-hmm... Hurts doesn't it?" The sorceress grinned as she watched her young prisoner cringe in pain.

"I did my research Webby. The company that made this particular brand of shock collar quickly went out of business after the police were informed that the owner of the company-"

"AAaaaAah-AHH-" Bzzzt!

-Ms. Barks, had locked her three year old son in a cage and strapped one of these collars around his neck..."

"Wha-Wha-WHAAAH-" Bzzzt! Webby recoiled forward onto the hardwood floor and began to cry.

"M-M-MAGICA! PLEAS-" Bzzzt!

"Quiet FOOL!" The sorceress sharply slapped her across the side of her bruised face.

"I'm trying to TELL a STO-RY!" Magica stepped back and prepared to fully hold the remote's button down with her thumb.

"...THIRTY SECONDS! If you can take it, you win the grand PRIZE."

"Noooo-oooh-oooh! Magica! SOMEONE PLEASE!" Webby cried and fought harder against her ropes, getting the attention of Doofus' mother nearby in the mansion.

"Oh look, your wrists are getting a little loose..." The sorceress sat down on the duckling's aching legs a toyed with her fingers for a bit.

"I'll just re-tighten them back up for you real quick. Wouldn't want you slipping out and... es-caping during the middle of the challenge."

"Magica, please! It's- It's tight enough!" The duckling tried to look behind her back, but the cone around her neck blocked her view.

"Really? How can you tell?" Magica ran her dry skeleton fingers through Webby's head feathers underneath her cone and patted her.

"I- I can't feel my fingers..." She weakly wiggled her numb digits about.

"...Oh. I guess that's a good enough reason." The sorceress paused before grabbing a handful of her feathers and pulled her head backwards.

"-AAAAAAAAAAHHH! Ow! Ow! Ow! STOP! Necks don't work like THAT!"

"Oop! Sorry. Heh-heh-heh." Magica chuckled to herself and sharply smacked Webby's tail end through her furry leotard.

"Ow!"

"What's the matter fool? Your parents never SPANKED you before?" Magica teased as she suggestively grabbed her tail through her outfit.

"I'm surprised such a disobedient little brat like yourself was able to get away without it for so many years..."

Webby couldn't stand it anymore. Magica was making her very uncomfortable, even more so than when she undressed her twice earlier, and she was doing it on purpose. In a instant, her blood-shot eyes began to twitch as furiously growled to herself like Scrooge McDuck.

"...Dis-obedient?"

"You have no right to-"

"-My granny would never..."

"Just- GET OFF ME ALREADY YOU EVIL BI-" The livid duckling was promptly silenced as the sorceress magically zipped her bill shut with a mystical red zipper.

"-Language! Language!" Magica reclined her full body weight on Webby and began to smack harder.

"Honestly, where did you hear such vulgar profanity?"

"Oh... of course. You walked in on old Scroogey on one off his off days didn't ya? Asked him one too many pointless FOOL questions didn't ya?" She smirked to herself while the duckling growled and grumbled through her tightly zipped up bill. Hoping to get Magica off her back, Webby began wildly kicking her legs backwards at the sorceress with the little strength she had left in her.

"Heh- That's cute, but I really don't think you want to do that..."

"If you struggle, I'll tie your feet together too. And then you have to hop up and down to follow me instead. And hopping on those sensitive webbed feet of yours sounds a bit-"

"-excruciating..." Magica calmly stood up and glared down at Webby, her cold voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Now where was I? Oh yes right."

"Ahem!" She pretended to loudly clear her throat.

"...So apparently, Ms. Barks told the police that her son wouldn't stop crying. So she put duct tape over his mouth and put him in time out. But I guess even that wasn't enough to shut the squalling little fool UP."

Magica paused and gently turned Webby onto her back, pinning her to the hardwood floor underneath her.

"You see Webby. Most adults don't appreciate it when little fools like yourself refuse to pipe down and just go to SLEEP."

"Personally, I don't mind a little pitiful, childish crying now and again."

"...It can be quite, entertaining." The sorceress pressed a bony finger deep into Webby's chest and slowly dragged it downwards, making the duckling wiggle and laugh through her bill.

"Now I'm SURE she would have loved to just, CLONK him over the head to make him go beddy-bye... But that would have left quite an unsightly mark on him."

Magica silently chuckled to herself as she grabbed right between Webby's legs, trying to get a reaction out of her.

"Mmmmm-hhhhmmm!" The young ducking shook her head and desperately struggled in protest.

"Oh, you like that? Heh-heh, I could do it a little bit more, if you want..." The sorceress ignored Webby's obvious discomfort and continued to violate her personal space.

"Mmmmm- Mmmmm..." Webby softly whimpered before giving the biggest, saddest, intentional puppy dog eyes should could pull off.

"...Okay fine." Magica effortlessly waved her hand aside and telekinetically unzipped the duckling's bill.

"-Uuuaagh!" Breathing heavily, Webby shut her eyes and turned her head away.

"MAGICA! STOP PLEASE! Not- not the underfluffies!"

"I'm- I'm just a kid! PLEASE! Anywhere but there!"

"...Now really Webby, you disappoint me. I thought you were tougher than this, this is really embarrassing. You can't be that sensitive down here." Magica laughed and continued to tease her.

"N-NO MAGICA! SOMEBODY PL- Mmmmmmm!" The sorceress quickly zipped the duckling's bill back shut and slapped her twice across the face.

"Oh, so you don't like it then... Well what are you gonna do about it huh?" Magica began mercilessly tickling her prisoner on the floor

"I'll tell you what, NOTHING!"

"WHY? Because it's PERFECTLY acceptable for me to do this."

"Because A: We're both girls, so it's okay."

"B: You're cute. And the cuter someone is, the more fun it is to mess with them..."

"And C: You're my slave. So you have no rights, and have no choice but to do whatever I please."

"So C'MON SLA-AVE! You might as well get used to it! You and me are going to get VERY close to each other..." Magica let herself relax and pulled the crying duckling into a gentle hug.

"There, there. It's okay. Your Aunt Magica will keep you safe..." She whispered in Webby's ear and rubbed the dark, puffy black eye she had given her earlier.

"...Would you like me to continue the story now? You wouldn't want to miss the, BEST PART would you?"

Webby didn't even try to respond this time. The combination of inetense hunger, cuts and bruises, invasion of privacy, inability to fall asleep, electric shocks, and a much younger age had driven her into a state of hopelessness and childish rage.

If she had been kidnapped by Ma Beagle, or possibly even Glomgold. They would have at least just ransomed or killed her by now. But by making friends with Lena and getting involved with Magica, she had unknowingly made herself a target of the Shadow Queen's wrath. And Magica saw no difference between an adult or a child. Everyone was fair play to her.

Yet Magica had still refused to kill her. At first, Webby thought the worst thing that could happen to her was to end up getting killed by the sorceress in some kind of dark, blood sacrifice. But now the opposite was true, she was now wishing for it.

When she was older, Webby couldn't understand why so many people everyday committed suicide. The idea that someone could be so depressed and thought so little of themselves that they took their own lives didn't make any sense to her. But now she finally got it.

Even if she was rescued, Magica had already stolen seven years of her life, and left permanent scars on her she could never forget. Death couldn't be as bad as this. All she had to do was anger Magica enough to make her want to kill her. Then it would be all over.

"...So you see, this collar has a very serious design flaw. If you hold down the button, instead of sending a nice little ZAP, into the wearer-"

"-it electrocutes them for as long as the button is pushed down..."

"Or until the batteries run out." Magica said as she lifted up the remote control and waved it inches in front of Webby's bruised face.

"But don't worry. I wouldn't do that to a poor, defenseless little girl like you..."

"Just for thirty seconds."

"If you can last thirty seconds without dying, you'll get nice a reward."

"...Ready, fool?" The sorceress smirked as she slapped Webby hard on the rear and sat her down against the wall.

"Mmmm-hhhmmm." The duckling shut her eyes tightly and nodded, much to Magica's surprise.

"Wait, really?" She stood still in disbelief.

"Oh, okay then..." Magica stepped a safe distance backwards and pulled out the remote.

"Three-"

...

"Two-"

...

"One-"

...

"HAAA- WHAT?!" The sorceress quickly turned around as the remote control was instantly taken from her skeleton hand. Standing close behind her, Doofus' mother was holding the remote in her hand.

"Miss, De- De Spell?" She somehow spoke while terrified to be in Magica's presence.

"This- little girl... She- She looks really scared. Maybe you should take her back home before- before her family starts to miss her."

"It's already half past midnight. I- I don't think you should really- should really-"

SMACK!

Magica suddenly smacked the maid backwards onto the floor and swiped back the remote.

"Intervening FOOL! Mind your own business! Do you want me to turn you into a FISH-FACE on LEGS?"

"Let me guess... OOOOH! THAT POOR CHIIILLLD!" The sorceress perfectly imitated the maid's voice in a mocking tone.

"WHAT KIND OF DEPRAVED, CRUEL MONSTER, COULD TREAT SUCH AN ADORABLE, INNOCENT, DEFENCELESS CHILD, SO POORLY?!"

"...HA! Do you really think that hearing THAT, is ENOUGH, to GUILT TRIP ME, INTO PASS-IVI-TY?!" Magica stepped forward with a wildly deranged expression on her face.

"...I think you should see a psychiatrist. You're clearly not mentally stable." Doofus' mother swiped back the remote without Magica noticing.

"BAH! How could some quack, PSYCHO mind FOOL, possibly HELP ME?"

"I don't even have a mind..."

"Now- Wait. Where's the remote?" Magica looked around before angrily glaring at the maid with her empty eye sockets.

"...If you PLEEEASE. The remote." The sorceress attempted to grab back the remote control, but was blocked by the maid.

"You need to stop De Spell. Look at her. She looks like she was hit by a bus after being beaten and robbed of her Halloween candy." The maid quickly dialed 'nine-one-one' on her phone and muted it while Magica wasn't looking.

"...Yeah, SO?" The sorceress turned back around and continued to fight for the remote.

"It doesn't take a genius to realize she hates this."

"Hate? Nonsense! She LOVES it!" Magica lied straight through her teeth.

"She's crying..." The maid spoke to her coldly.

"...Tears of joy no doubt."

Hearing their conversation, Webby opened her tired eyes in shock. Someone in the mansion was actually trying to defend her. The blurry world spun out of control around her as she watched then argue.

"You don't have to be a mother to realize what your doing is wrong. Nothing in the world could justify treating a child like this."

"Really NOW? Do you have any IDEA, how much trouble this irksome little FOOL has caused ME?" Magica clawed desperately for the remote, completely forgetting that she could use actual magic.

"I don't CARE..." The maid pulled the sorceress forward and stood courageously between her and Webby.

"I should have stood up to you much earlier THIS ENDS NOW." She dropped the remote control on the floor and crushed it underneath her foot.

"Don't worry sweetie! You're going home soon." She reassured the young duckling behind her as Magica burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"DO- DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE UP AGAINST?!"

"I AM MAGICA DE SPELL! THE MOST POWERFUL- SORCERESS, IN THE MULTI-VERSE! AND YOU- You're just a lowly FOOL, that has had too much to EAT!"

"HOW- IN HADES' NAME, COULD YOU POSSIBLY TAKE MY NEW, PERSONAL SLAVE, AWAY FROM ME?!"

"...I called the police." The maid simply responded with her arms crossed.

The exaggerated hammy expression on Magica's face immediately transitioned to an equal mix of boredom, anger, and disbelief as the sound of sirens and the front door getting kicked open could be heard inside the mansion.

Slowly lifting up her hand, the sorceress casually snapped her skeleton fingers, releasing a powerful magic shockwave from within herself and instantly silencing the sirens and commotion of the police officers.

"Boom." She said before blowing the black smoke off her burning fingers.

"Like it never even happened..."

"...What- DID YOU DO-" The maid was interrupted by the soft pitter patter of Webby making a run for it, dragging her leash closely behind her back with her bill still tightly zipped up.

"-ow, ow, ow, ow."

"NOT, SO FAST- AUUGH!" As soon as Magica pulled out her wand to cast a spell at Webby, Doofus' mother pulled it away from her and tried to snap it in two.

"Impudent FOOL! I am MAGICA DE SPELL! THE- WAAHH!" The sorceress was quickly thrown over the maid's shoulder and onto the hard floor with a crash.

"You- you FOOL! You'll pay for THIS!" Magica tore off her tattered cape and threw it over the maid standing above her.

"...HA!" She snatched back her magic wand and began pelting her blind opponent with noxious knock-out smoke bombs.

"Suck smoke half-wit! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"BUT that's not ALL!" The sorceress lifted the now unconscious maid high above her with her magic wand and held her in place.

Meanwhile, still dressed in a poor a imitation of a dog costume, Webby had once again located the front door of the Doofus Drake's mazelike mansion. Although every step was more and more painful for her, she made a final hopeful dash towards to wide open door leading outside.

"Hmmm-URK!" The young duckling's daring escape was promptly halted as a red magical aura held the end of her leash firmly in place behind her, constricting the collar dangerously tight around her neck.

"Careful now. You wouldn't want the CHOKE to death would you?" Magica telepathically spoke to Webby in a mocking tone and shut the door.

"Mmmmm-hhhmmmm." The duckling cried and pulled against the leash with all her strength, cutting off the air flow in her throat.

"You- You fool! You'll- You'll kill yourself that way." The sorceress lifted Webby into the air with her magic and let go of the leash.

"Hhhmmm! Hhmmm..." She let her head drop forward and closed her eyes before being instantly teleported back down against the wall in a red cloud of magic smoke.

"What is wrong with you child?! You should be cowering in terror in my presence, kicking and screaming for your very life!" Magica said as she summoned a piece of rope and bound Webby's short legs together.

"Hmmmm- Hhhmmm."

"There we go. Now perk up a bit and put on a good show for me will you?" She lightly slapped her face a few times before stepping back.

"...Ah-HEM." The sorceress paused and pulled out her wand, aiming it at Doofus' mother floating above her.

"Tortured souls and children to troll, turn this vexatious fool into a REMOTE CONTROL!"

"ABRA- DUCKABRA!" She swung the wand, casting the spell upwards as Webby watched silently in horror.

...

"With batteries included..." Magica let Doofus' mother drop into the empty palm of her hand.

"Don't worry. It's not like she's still sentient or anything. Well, heh heh- Hopefully."

"Hhhmmmm- Hhmmm!" The duckling tried her best to turn away as the sorceress brought the remote control close to her face.

"You ready?"

"Nuuhh- Hhhmmmm!" Webby shook her head this time as she struggled just to breathe.

"Aww, cheer up Webby. A little electricity never killed anyone." Magica spoke as she wiped away the duckling's tears.

"Hhhmmmm..."

"Hey hey hey! You must remain PAWS-itive Webby! A short thirty seconds of high-voltage electrical currents running through your little body is NOTHING to worry about... And this time, with no interruptions."

"Trust me. It'll be- completely worth it..."

"Three!"

...

"Two!"

...

"One."

...

With a subtle smug smirk, the sorceress finally pointed the remote control at the young duckling in front of her and then pressed the button down, shocking her with a constant, painful surge of electricity.

Unable to move or even speak, Webby tightly shut her eyes and began to count down the remaining seconds in her head as Magica callously burned her alive. Yet, her thoughts ended up trailing back to her best friend Lena.

'I wonder what Lena is doing right now. Bzzzzzt! AAAAH! Where are you guys?! Please get me outta here!'

"So anyways..." The sorceress continued to relentlessly shock her captive.

"Ms. Bark's son, don't remember what his name was. Grew up to become some kind of lame, electricity based supervillain, and then went on a rampage and ended up murdering his mother and younger sister."

Magica instantly lifted her skeleton thumb off the remote's button after a full thirty seconds had passed and slowly walked up to Webby.

"Guess what happened next?" She unzipped her bill and forced her to make close eye contact.

"...W-What?" She shut her eyes and turned her head away before the sorceress quickly turned it back.

"I dunno. They sent him to the electric chair I guess. BAH- AH-HAHAHAHAHA!" Magica cackled loudly in Webby's face at her own twisted wordplay.

"...Is- Is this all a joke to you?! I am a person! I have FEELINGS!" The duckling yelled and attempted to kick the sorceress away from her with her bound feet.

SLAP!

"-AAHH!"

"Look at my face Webby! Looketh at my FACE! ...Do I look like a person who cares?" Magica asked.

"No. You look like a shallow old hag that get beat to death with an ugly stick, and then got revived by a wasted necromancer..."

"-YOU! YOU LITTLE-" The inraged sorceress pulled back her right leg and kicked Webby right between the legs as hard as she could.

"That's two strikes already!" Magica held up a pair of shadowy fingers and waved them back and forth in front of the very pained duckling's face.

"One for being a smartass! And two for trying to run away!"

"One more strike, and I'm afraid I'll have to punish you, more severely..." She crouched down and roughly pinched her bruised cheeks.

"AND YOU WOULDN'T WANT THAT. WOULD YOU SWEETIE?" Magica tightly grabbed her bill and rapidly pulled her head left and right.

"Now then." The sorceress held Webby's feet still and got uncomfortably close to her face.

"Lick me..."

"...WHAAAAT?! Are you crazy?! I don't even know where you've been!" The duckling began to desperately struggle about before being choked back into silence with her leash.

"Well, since you're already playing the role of a cute little doggie today. And you know, cute little doggies like to lick people they like. You can get on better terms with me and prove your complete submission to your master."

"But re-member! No biting... Because I bite back, even HARD-ERRR." Magica showed off her sharpened teeth with a large, goofy smile.

"...Well, dogs don't talk. And they don't walk on two legs either. I SMELL a hypocrite." Webby spoke without spotting her own pun.

"There! you see? You're learning already! And don't forget, anything is PAW-sible with a little imagination..."

"No. I- I won't! You can't MAKE ME!" The duckling screamed into Magica's face.

"...Look, I've already been inside your entire body. I'd imagine touching me with your tongue is a little tame in comparison."

"I- I didn't agree to that! I didn't agree to ANY OF THIS!" Webby struggled to even speak with her collar ever tightening around her neck.

"Of course! That's why it's a kidnapping fool! Now be a good girl and do what you are told... Because I'm afraid-" The sorceress grabbed a hold of her tongue with her magic and stretched it far out of her mouth, pulling her head forward.

"-you have no choice in the matter..."

"Lllllllllllllhhh!"

"Or, I could give you a nice little magic tongue piercing and attach a cute little weight to it to hang out of your mouth."

"I'd say about. Hmmmmm... Five pounds, should be sufficient. I hear it's quite popular with the young ladies nowadays."

"Well, just the piercing I think. The weight will be special. Just for you..."

"LLLLhhh- Nhh-hhh-hhhh!" Webby shook her head the best she could with obvious dread filling her eyes.

"What? Couldn't hear you. You'll have to-"

"-Uh... Nuts! I can't think up a good dog pun for this."

"Oh! I got it! I got a great joke! ...Ahem." Magica dramatically paused before snapping her fingers, instantly summoning and a thick metal ring into the duckling's delicate tongue, leaving a small sturdy hole on the tip of it.

"I'm sorry, your free trial of clear speaking and a painless existence, has expired." The sorceress perfectly imitated a pre-recorded feminine voice and laughed, watching Webby struggle and breathe heavily against the wall.

"Ll-llhhh- Lhhh!"

"Oh don't worry Webby. It's not like it's going to get infected or anything..." Magica pulled out what looked like a miniature ball and chain and strapped it's hook through the duckling's tongue and locked it, weighing it painfully down out of her mouth.

"Ahhhh! Ahh- ow- ow-"

"There, perfect. That wasn't so bad was it? Let's try it out now shall we?" Magica finally let go of Webby's tounge with her magic and let it drop.

"Can you say... Onomonapia?!"

"Ahhnomonapiah?" The duckling managed to say, tilting her head in confusion with her tongue hanging awkwardly out of her mouth.

"Heh-heh. That's adorable." The sorceress chuckled to herself.

"Oh, and don't even think about trying to remove this-" She brought her hand to Webby's tongue and felt it between her fingers.

"-Because if you do, your tongue will just turn black and fall off..."

"Ahh hhhope you get struck bhh lhhightnin' burn thhh deahhth and die!" The duckling stared forward in anger.

"...I'll give you ONE, MORE chance." Magica lifted Webby up by her neck and spoke in a silent, tranquil fury.

"Tell me I'm pretty..."

"Oh you're pretty ahlright. Pretty ahhs ahh mhhug shot." She muttered crossly.

"...I think you've been slapped enough for today Webby. It's think it's about time we moved on to full-time punching and kicking in your, particularly sensitive spots."

"Wouldn't you AGREE, FOOL?!" Magica griped the duckling's neck tightly with both of her hands and began to squeeze and shake her about.

"But you DID last thirty seconds while being electrocuted, and I AM a sorceress of my word. So I guess we can hold off on your punishment for now and skip straight to your reward... Would you like that Webby?" The sorceress asked.

"Blahhh- Uhhh-" Webby breathed and silently nodded her head, slightly lifting her weight up and down by her tounge.

"Good..." Magica calmy stood her young prisoner onto the floor and untied her legs.

"Wah- Wah-"

"I'm sorry. Didn't quite catch that."

"Wah- Wahter." She continued to breathe slowly.

"You'll get some eventually. Now c'mon! Be the obiedent little slave you were hatched to be and follow me. I grow tired of this drab hallway..."

Magica smirked and smacked Webby on the rear before lifting up the weight attached to her tongue with her hand and jerked it forwards.

"-AAAAHH! Ahhh!"

"Can't do much to stop the pain in your feet, but at least if you keep up a decent pace with me, your tongue won't hurt as much. Maybe..."

The sorceress slowy turned around and began to fast walk down the hall, leading the unwilling duckling towards her reward. At this point, she wished she had just licked Magica instead.

After a short, painful dash through the darkened eerie mansion, Webby suddenly stopped in front of a slightly cracked open door, letting Magica pull her hard onto the floor by her tongue.

"Ahhhhh! Ow- Ow..."

"Heh-heh, stupid fool. You mustn't be thinking clearly. You wanna tear your own tongue out?" She asked.

"No- no..." Webby slowly turned her head towards the door she was lying beside and sneezed.

"Mhh- Mhhaster Mhhagicah? Plhhease- chhould I use- thh bathhroom?"

"...Well, you're dark little heart's in the right place. But I'm afraid you can't."

"You're BARKing, up the wrong TREE."

"You see, I already gave you several chances to go earlier with those cute black shorts of yours. I thought that if I wasn't going to allow you to go the little girl's room, the LEAST I could do was give you, something to relieve yourself in, instead of the carpet or a chair, since you don't normally wear pants anyway..."

"I mean, it's adorable sure, but not very, sanitary... After all, mistakes happen. No need to, TERRIER-self up about it!" Magica laughed loudly at her own joke and slapped her skeleton knees.

"Except, in one condition." The sorceress paused before sitting Webby upwards and staring straight into her eyes.

"Curse..."

"...Fuc-"

"NOT THAT KIND OF CURSE!" Magica tightly clamped Webby's bruised bill shut.

"CURSE- the day Scrooge McDuck was hATChed... Curse the very hour! The very minute! Curse the lives of every past and living member of Clan McDuck!

"Curse his entire PATHETIC, WORTHLESS family!"

"...And I'll let you go."

"I'll untie you and let you go to the bathroom, all by yourself, without looking over your shoulder."

"And as a bonus, I'll take that painful weight off your tongue without it shriveling up. I'll take the curse off your feet, I'll let you get a good night of sleep, I'll conjure up anything you could possibly want to eat or drink. I'll even return you to your original age, without you going through puberty."

"...Because if I find one drop, one singular drop of your little, tinkle tinkles at the bottom of this suit, you'll be in a whole new world of hurt."

"I mean, this suit is rented after all..."

"...Ahhnd ah suhppose you renhted ah life tooh... Cahuse you ahbviously never hhad one BEFORE! Nrrghh!"

Webby looked Magica square in the face and swung her head upwards, violently hitting the sorceress under her bill with the heavy ball strapped to her tongue and knocking her backwards.

"WHAAAAT-"

"Rrrrrgh... Rraaaawhhh!" The duckling somehow managed to jump to her feet and charge straight towards the very surprised Magica De Spell in front of her. Quickly running around her at full speed, she began kicking her hard in the shins.

"AAH- WHAA- FOOL-" The sorceress tried to focus on casting a spell, but only managed to turn her head into an oversized grape.

"AAHH- FOOL-OOL-OOL-OOL!"

"Ahh take it back! You'll never be my MAHHSTER!"

"-Nngh!" Webby kicked Magica in the stomach.

"Ah'll never betrahy Uncle Scrooge!"

"-Nnggh!" Webby headbutted Magica to the floor.

"Ahhncient spirts of Clahhn McDuck, mahh my sacrifice not be in vahin!" She leapt onto her fallen enemey's back and began repeatedly jumping on her as hard as she could.

"-NAAAHH! I- WON'T- BE..."

SNAP!

Magica snapped her fingers, instantly freezing Webby in space above her, leaving her conscious in the air and only able to move her eyes.

"...A little feisty aren't we?" She crawled out from underneath the duckling and stood up after turning her head back to normal.

"Again Webby. Of all the little fools I've ever met, you're easily the most foolish little fool of all of them."

"Can't you see? It's hopeless. You CAN'T- BEAT- ME. With just a SNA-AP, of my fingers, reality itself, will bend to my will..."

Magica circled around Webby a couple of times with her wand behind her back, stopping every now and then to spitefully strike her on the rear with it.

"...I think it's about time I REALLY punished you Webby." The sorceress stopped in front of the duckling's frozen face and smirked.

"Because, apparently. I've been way too soft on you..."

Magica used her wand to move Webby and the ball attached to her tongue to the perfect height and finally let gravity take over, still holding the ball frozen in the air above her and hanging her full body weight from her pierced tongue.

"NNNNHHH- NNNNNNNNHHH! The young duckling screamed and cried with tears in her eyes as she tried her best to clearly beg for Magica to let her down.

"UHHNCLE SCROOGE! GRAHHNNY! LENAHH! MAGICA, PLEASE!" Webby kicked and struggled about as Magica subjected her to the worst pain she had ever experienced.

"Heh-heh... Fool."

"No matter how much you cry, no matter how loud you scream, no one will hear you and no one will come to save you. Everyone that you thought loved and cared about you has abandoned you."

"And to think... All this could have been avoided, if you just weren't so FOOLISHLY committed to a family that couldn't give a DAMN ABOUT YOU." Magica struck Webby's face with the back of her fist and pointed her finger towards her chest.

"So you just HANG there for a couple of hours and contemplate on that, FOOL!" The sorceress magically levitated herself in a laid-back position in the air and watched as Webby hung silently before her from her tongue.

"...Well?! Do something already! You're somehow managing to make torture of all things, BORING!"

"Kick! Scream! Moan in pain! Satisfy ME! Just do ANY-THING!"

"Maaah- Hhhhnn-" The duckling shut her eyes and continued to somehow remain calm.

"...I know. I'll wrap you up in plastic wrap and hang you in the freezer. Making you a, PUP-sicle! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"No, WAIT! I'll stuff dirty cottonballs down your throat and pour boiling water on your face. Ah-ha-ha!"

"No, WAIT! I'll tear out your tail feathers and make you a sacrificial headdress."

"HA! So many choices. What should we do first?"

"NHHHH- Hmm-hhmmmm!" Webby cried as she struggled to untie her wrists from behind her back.

"Okay FIIIINE. I'll cut you some slack." Magica frowned and snapped her fingers, letting her captive drop to the floor onto her side.

"...Ah freaking hate you." She spoke with her tongue lying limply on the floor.

"Likewise Webbigail. Likewise..." The sorceress crouched down close to her.

"Ah'm- Ah'm not evehhn worth your time! Just- KILL ME ahlready you COWAHRD!"

"...Listen fool. I'm selfish, I know. But to keep you mine and ONLY MINE, I will do everything I need to do to keep you safe and secure."

"The collar, the leash. Well, I was worried that you might try to run away or something." Magica pulled on Webby's collar and tightened it.

"Killing you at this point, well... that would be giving you sweet mercy."

"You mahonster... You ma-"

"Silence SLAVE!" The sorceress slapped Webby hard across the face.

"You have no right to your own life! And if you try to leave me, I'll KILL whoever stands in my way, so nobody else can have you..."

"...Ahfter Uhncle Scrooge rescues me ahnd kicks your butt, ah'm going tooh testhify tooh the court ahbout everything you've done tooh me. They'll make you pahhy." The duckling seethed from inside her pet cone.

"Yeah. So? What can they do to me? Put me on death row? I'm already dead remember?" Magica knocked on Webby's head with her fist.

"Aahf couhrse ah rehmember! Whhat do youh think? Ahh'm naaht ahhh- ahh- AaahCHOOahh! Webby sneezed as she awkwardly struggled to speak clearly.

"Heh-heh. So cute..." Magica whispered to herself and ran her hand down the duckling's chest, eventually grabbing between her legs again.

"-Aaahh! AAAHH! MAHGICA! PLEASE DON'T-"

"Oop! Sorry!" The sorceress quickly pulled her hand away from Webby.

"I was just checking if you had, wet yourself yet..."

"Ahh'm naat ah bahby!" She spoke with her tongue still hanging out of her bill.

"Plhease just leave me ahlone!"

"Now Webby. I understand that me touching you in... certain places might make you a little uncomfortable. But you're just going to have to get used to it."

"But since YOU DID say ANYWHERE but there, and that my name is literally written on them, I couldn't imagine touching your feet for a while wouldn't be so bad..."

Magica roughly flipped Webby onto her stomach and grabbed her webbed feet, holding them upwards in her hands. The duckling began to panic, quickly realizing what the sorceress was planning to do to her.

"Mahgica no! No more tickling! Thaht'll mahke me wet mahhyself for sure!" She desperately kicked her legs close to Magica's face.

"...Really now? You seemed to like it a lot earlier. What's the matter Webby? Would rather have me touch you SOMEWHERE ELSE?" Magica mocked.

"UHHH- If you reahlly don't want me to do something, why are you trying to force me to do IT?!"

"I could have worn those shorts underneath this STUHPID, ITCHY, DOG SUIT!" Webby yelled backwards in anger.

"...You're absolutely right Webby."

"Torturing you like this when you have a full little bladder like that. That would be, just cruel..." Magica smirked.

"...Buht you're gohnna do it anyway, ahren't you?" The duckling asked with audible spite in her voice.

"...Noooope!" Magica shook her head and laid Webby's feet on the floor.

"What? Why ahhre you-"

"Okay. Up we go." The sorceress lifted the confused duckling onto her feet and gently patted her head.

"You're- You're naht gonna- Ahhh!" Webby was suddenly jerked forward by her tongue.

"You're reward is waiting for you, remember?" The sorceress stroked the duckling underneath her bill in friendly way and quickly tied a blindfold over her eyes.

"-Ahh! Ah KNEW IT! You where trying to lead me into a fahlse sense of securhity!" Webby struggled and blindly kicked in front of her.

"Now Webby... Don't you trust me?" Magica stood up and slowly led the duckling through the mansion.

"...Just follow me."

"As I said before, it'll all be worth it..."

* * *

Five minutes later.

...

"-Ahh."

...

"-Ahh."

...

"-Ahhh!"

"Well, we're here!" Magica pulled her blind captive forward with one final tug and then let the weight attached to her tongue fall.

"Aaaahhh- Ahhh- Ahh!"

"Sur-prise! What do you think?" The sorceress asked, resting her hand of Webby's soft, feathered head.

"Ahh- Ah'm still blahndfolhded!" The ducking struggled the speak.

"You see? You're not ALL DUMB. HA!" Magica laughed and slapped Webby hard on the back of the head.

"-AHHH! AHH!"

"Oh, suck it up pink... Now be a good girl and sit for me will ya?"

"You'll get a delicious tree-eeeeat." A familiar voice spoke to the duckling from the dark, silent world all around her.

Standing perfectly still with her blindfold still tied over her eyes, Webby held her breath and let her dog tag jingle softly from underneath her neck.

"...Lleenah?"


	12. Lena De Day's April Fool's Gay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm well aware that's it's not April, but that's just the chapter name. Just go with it.

...

"Uhh, Uncle Scrooge?"

"Don't- Don't worry. Webby is, well, she's- she's really tough."

"Just like you said, Webby can handle anything Magica could possibly do to her. She already got a few good shots at her and is still refusing to give up."

"So... So all we have to do is wait for Magica to slip up, and-"

"-That's enough lad..." Scrooge McDuck still trapped in his youngest's nephew body refused to look up as he sat forward in his chair with his hand on his forehead.

"Can't you see when your great uncle is in deep regret?" His tone was cold and tired, dispite coming out in a pubescent child's voice.

"But- But Uncle Scrooge. It's- It's not your fault. It's Mag-"

"-And WHO'S FAULT is IT, that Magica got that chance?!" Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body was interrupted as Scrooge finally jumped out of his chair and tried to hold back his tears.

"It was reckless! I gave that stone-hearted sorceress a chance to get back at us! And she took it!"

"Now look what happened! She struck at the ONE PLACE where she knew it would tear me apart the most!"

Pulling his black top hat down over his eyes, Scrooge stood his cane upright and let a tear run down his nephew's cheek.

"My family..."

"...Uncle Scrooge." Huey was almost speechless.

"Webbigail, heh. That spunky young lass could have been prodigy, a living legend in her own time."

"But Magica, has pulled her into her own sick sadist game... She's   
objectifying, literally sexualizing a literal child into her-"

"-Sorry. I don't think you're mature enough for this yet..."

Scrooge sighed and turned his back towards the Junior Woodchuck.

"I always knew that witch was twisted and underhanded. But this is-"

"-and Webbigail... She's only making it worse for herself by standing up for me. No matter how defiant she is, it won't change the fact that's she just a helpless young lass, up against the worst tyranny Magica is willing to pull out of her sleeve."

"...She doesn't stand a chance."

"Uncle Scrooge? Listen." Huey walked up to his great uncle to try and comfort him, the two of them now stood alone in the the same dimly light office Magica was able to escape from Scrooge's Number One Dime over a year ago.

"I'm going to make an appeal to Magica... I'm going to take Webbigail's place."

"...WHAT?" Huey stood back in shock.

"You- You can't be serious!"

"How can you be so sure Magica will even agree to that? How are you even going to contact her? What if she just captures you both?!"

"I'm Scrooge McDuck..." Scrooge paused before looking out the window and into the inky dark night.

"It's me who she truly wants. And I don't think she cares if I'm a child or not..."

"Webbigail's only chance is if Magica just lets her go peacefully. And if she has the opportunity to have me completely surrender myself to her, you can bet your tail feathers that witch will take it."

"...Well, what- what about Gyro and his- his time tub?" Huey asked.

"Magica is too powerful now. It would be sending him to a cruel and unusual death..."

"After Webbigail is safe home in your arms, you're all going to have to leave Duckburg. Magica will come after all of you, probably chasing you to the very ends of the earth."

"Your brother will get the honor of being the richest duck in the world again, and you-"

"-Well, you'll have to look after Dewey and Della. I'm afraid they still have a lot to learn..."

"Could you please stop and just listen to yourself?!" Huey grabbed his uncle and turned him around.

"We can get through THIS! Please! There has to be a better way. We can't just give up! I know Webby.  
Even if your plan works, she will just insist on getting you back from Magica, putting us all in danger AGAIN!"

"Well, your her grandmother. You'll just have to hold her down..."

"Ugh!" The young Junior Woodchuck groaned.

"You need to get some sleep, you're definitely not thinking straight! What if we find a way to get back to normal after you give yourself up? You would be cutting Louie's life short by at least, thirty years!"

"How much longer do you think you'll- your body, will live anyway?"

"Well, I- I thought I'd just live forever..." Scrooge stuttered, surprised how intimidating Huey was like this.

"Look- H-Huey, I'm going to have to level with you on this. You're the most responsible of all my nieces and nephews. You can handle this..." Scrooge climbed back into her chair and yawned.

"...People like Magica, the subtlety corrupt, possibly the higher ups in F.O.W.L. They're all-"

"-Wait fowl?" Huey questioned.

"Webby didn't tell you? F-O-W-L F.O.W.L, the Fiendish Organization for World Larceny. The top secret criminal organisation against all peace and prosperity that nobody's supposed to know about..."

"Wait, how do you know about them then?" The Junior Woodchuck asked.

"I'm the richest duck in the world, I have my own little way of knowing things..." Scrooge smiled for the first time in hours.

"Anyway, these people-"

"-Well, someone of them couldn't really be considered people."

"Have this belief, that if they abuse, mistreat, torture, or do possibly even worse to young children, in return, they'll steal their power after killing them and drinking their blood..."

"Wait WHAT?" Huey once again stood back in shock.

"What power? Children have power? Why am I only now hearing about THIS?! I wonder what type of power I have?"

"...Youth." Scrooge replied.

"That's their mindset. Murder the innocent, drink their blood, and then eventually gain immortality."

"Well, since- since you're the richest duck in the world, can't you just stop these people from doing this? This just sounds like a horrible nightmare to have to go through..." Huey rubbed his muscular shoulders.

"Despite what your brother genuinely believes, money can't buy anything. But it can buy invitations to these... perverse ceremonies."

"They've already tried to invite me to one of their private islands free of charge decades ago, most likely just to get dirt on me if I tried to tell anyone afterwards."

"Do- Do you think Glomgold, or- or Mark Beaks has- has-"

"-Heh heh." Scrooge interrupted his now distraught nephew with a soft chuckle.

"Flinty already believes he's immortal... And Beaks-"

"-he's the one with the telephone right? I doubt he's the type of man to go for this..."

"But Magica! She is a cruel and wicked woman! Lacking any sort of remorse or-"

"-Wait, didn't you yourself have an island that you wanted to keep so secret, you had it removed from all the maps in the world?" Huey asked, not sure if the story Louie had told him was true or not.

"That's besides the point... But Magica!" Scrooge stood and began to pace in frustration.

"She's somehow treating Webbigail WORSE than what would happen to her if she was taken to one of those ceremonies."

"Normally, being sacrificed for your own flesh and blood wouldn't be particularly... pleasant. Even though Webbigail herself told me that was her preferred death..."

"But what-" Scrooge grumbled and slammed down his foot down on the hardwood floor in anger, hurting Louie's leg in the process.

"Ouch..."

"-But what Magica is doing is just cold-blooded torture to a wee little child!"

"But not just any wee little child... My wee Webbigail!"

"...Uncle Scrooge, we've been through this already. Now what are we going to do about it? Huey watched closely as fire began to spark in his uncle's eyes.

"I'll tell you what..."

"First off, there's NO WAY I'm surrendering myself to that, jaundiced Jezebel! We're tracking her down and getting Webbigail back, even it kills ME!"

"That's the spirit! Wait, actually-"

"-Just you wait De Spell! We'll formulate a plan, strike at Magica in her every weak spot, and rescue the wee child befor-"

"-SHE IS GOING TO ERADICATE THE SMOL EARTH CHIiiilLD!" Scrooge McDuck was suddenly interrupted as Penumbra burst through the door, cradling a blind Lena in her arms.

"What?"

"It's unmistakable! First the cigars, then the blindfold. We must find and liberate her from Magica's lair before-"

"-Uh. Aunt Penn- I mean, uh. Lieutenant Penumbra..." Huey effortlessly lifted Lena up in his arms and sat her down in Scrooge's chair.

"...Webby has been kidnapped. It's not an uncommon occurrence on earth for kidnap victoms to be blindfolded so as to not reveal their kidnapper's identity."

"But we already know it's Magica who did IT! What about the- the cigars?! Explain that red earth nerd!" Penumbra struggled to lift Huey off the floor.

"Well, forcing Webby to smoke is probably just Magica-"

"-Wait, do they even have tobacco on the moon? Or did a certain someone..." Huey turned to his mother trapped in Donald's body.

"Just in case me and Penny ever end up as fugitives in a foreign country, I thought I'd just let her know the best moment to let it all loose and say things you'd most definitely regret!" Della laughed and punched the confused moonlander on the arm.

"...Why must you continue to torment me?"

"Ehh! G-GUYS! GUYS!" Lena began breathing heavily and writhing about in the chair after a long, painful silence from her.

"It's the other me AGAIN! She- She's got Webby! WEBBY, RUUN-UUN!" The teenager screamed and clawed at the arm rests on the sides of her chair.

"AAAHH! She's got her arms around her now! She's lifting her up! She's- She's whispering in her ear! She's- She's holding her up against HERSELF! NOOOOO!"

"She's-"

"She's-"

"Speak up lass! What's happening?!" Scrooge leaped on top of Lena's lap and tugged at her sweater. 

"She's-"

"She's..."

"...KISSING HER!?!?" The sexually confused teenager burned in shock and jealously, not wanting to admit that she actually liked the feeling of being kissed by an evil counterpart of herself.

"She- She can't do that to Webby! SHE'S MIINNE!"

After being met with nothing but silence from her friends and family in the room, Lena froze and blushed a bright shade of red.

"My- f-friend... My best, friend..."

"In a definitely, non... romantic, adorable, way... Heh-heh..."

"...I ship it." Louie walked up and patted the ashamed teenager on the back.

"Louie, you're embarrassing Lena..." Dewey in Launchpad's body gently pulled his brother aside.

"So! You want us to throw you and Webby a coming out party? Complete with pink and black streamers and a great big banner that reads, Weblena?" Dewey excitedly asked.

"No- No..." The teen covered her face as she wished she could disappear back into the shadow realm.

"I feel bad for Lena... and Webby." Huey stood beside Violet and watched as Lena continued to shrink back into her chair.

"...I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing." The hummingbird continued stare intently.


	13. Kissed by a Teen Duck Goddess!

...

"Umm. Lenaah?"

"Ah know we're best friends aahnd ahll..."

"But don't you think this is ah baahd time for- Mmmmmm-" Webby Vanderquack was interrupted as her best friend Lena planted another long wet kiss on her bill and then began nibbling at her neck.

"Lennah, staap. Heh-heh. That- That tickles! Aahnd you definitely DON'T want to tickle me right now..." Webby squirmed about to escape from her friend's tight grasp.

"C'mon here you little imp." The shadowy teen licked her lips and stroked the duckling's face with her cold tongue.

"LENA! Not you TOO!" Webby blindly kicked in disgust and tried to pull her face away.

"Ewwwww. It's tha suit, isn't it? You never told me you loved dogs this much before..."

"Yes. It's nice too- kind ah see you too. But- Aaaugh! Lenaah please! I said your were ah sweetheart! Not ah sweettongue!"

Looking up to see her Aunt Magica signaling for her to cut it out already, Lena brought her tongue out of Webby's bill and put her back on her feet, watching her cringe in pain.

"-Ahhh! Pick me back up! Thhat was better!" The duckling balanced herself high on her tiptoes in the dark.

"...I'm sorry. Too much?"

"Yes, verhy much so... Wait, what?" Webby looked around in confusion, dispite a blindfold still being tied around her head.

"Lennaah... What's going on? Is- Is that reahlly you?" The duckling was starting to get suspicious.

"Yeah, of course it's really me pink. Who else would it be?" The teenager pulled Webby into an awkward hug, letting her friend rest her head on her side.

"Well, it- it sounds like you, aannd it feels like you... But-" Webby stopped to sniff the mysterious teen in front of her.

"...You smell a lot different whhen you're awaahke."

"Oh no. He's rubbing off ahhn me..."

"There, you convinced?" Lena chuckled ominously and pulled her friend closer by her collar around her neck.

"But- But I still don't know whhat you look like. Wait... What are you even doing HERE?! What happened to Maaahgica? Why am I still blindfahlded?! WHHAAHT IS EVEN GOING ON?!" The confused duckling struggled to speak clearly as the painful weight was still locked onto her tongue.

"Okay, let me take that mean ol' blindfold off you already..." Lena bent down and gently untied the dark bandana from her friend's head.

"AHHH! The llahight! Mah world, it was so dark. How mah soul longs ahfter only ah shadow, only the love in my heart caahn fill the void-"

"-what?" Webby looked silently up towards a perfect image of her best friend Lena standing over Her.

She was terrifying, yet beautiful. Her shadowy form was that of what Webby considered to be of a graceful angel. Her dark striped sweater was entrancing. Her bill was clean and sparkling. Her tail was curved and sublime-

-Wait. Why was she focusing so hard right there in particular? That was just weird. But why did it feel so right?

Yet the most noticeable aspect of her friend was her face, it was uncanny. Her expression was a bizarre mix held back malice and exaggerated smugness, almost like she didn't know how to express emotions properly.

"Ah am, very confuhsed right now..."

"Muh-ha-ha. You silly..." The teenager laughed and slapped her friend in the face a couple of times for no particular reason.

"...Ah ahlways thought being kidnapped would be ah fun, thrilling experience. But this- this is just weird. With ah lot of pahinful face slapping. Ah wanna go home..."

"Hmph! Fool!" Magica suddenly slapped Webby sharply on the back of her head, knocking her down to the floor of the well lit room they're were in.

"-AAHH!"

"This IS, YOUR home. Your NEW home by the way, for all eternity! What do you think about that?" The sorceress kicked the heavily bruised duckling on the floor, watching tears begin to gather in her eyes.

"...Well, this may be mah home. But that THING, is not my Lena." Webby's voice was shaky and tired, as her will to continue living was quickly fading away.

"What? Of course she is." Magica spoke as she continued to nonsalantly assault the tightly bound duckling beneath her.

"Lena dear, could you please confirm for the little fool here, that you are indeed, the one and only, Lena De Spell?"

"...Yeah, heh-heh-heh. I can confirm what my Aunt Magica just said. I AM indeed, the one and only, Lena De Spell." Lena spoke with a subtle smirk on her face.

"N-No. You're- You're jahust trying to trick me." Webby stuttered as she struggled to speak.

"Ah know Lena better thhaan you ever could. She would never- would never..."

"What? Betray you? Use you? Pull your strings to forward my grim plans of vengeance?" Magica asked as she lifted her captive up by the tail of her outfit.

"No... That's- That's naht the real Lena. Violet... She- She trahied-"

"-living shahdows, can't be braahinwashed or hypnotized. They're mahde of maahgic..."

"That's- That's why you haahd to manipulate her. And- And-"

"-Don't you get it?" The sorceress jerked the duckling right up to her face.

"Lena was NEVER your fr-iend. Just a cleverly disguised, shadowy actress. A spy so to speak..."

"How does it feel to be betrayed, FOOL?! To have your trust broken and SMA-SHED apart?! HUH?! Grow up and face the FACTS! You were made a STUPID, IDIOTIC, LITTLE FOOL! And THAT, IS, LENA!"

"...No, you're- you're contrahhdicting yourself. You're nothing but a liar- AAAHH!" Webby was quickly interrupted as Magica slapped her across her black eye.

"Hasn't the past few days with me taught you ANYTHING?" The sorceress slapped her in the face again.

"I'm in CHARGE here! You have no rights, no respect, and no freedom..."

"...So go ahead fool, try me. Call me a liar again. I dare you." Magica said as she held back an open, bony palm, ready to strike her captive again in the face.

"I- I..." Webby stuttered in fear and slowly let her head drop in defeat. Every slap across her sensitive face now stung like a hornet's stinger, as discolored bruised spots where scattered all over her face and body.

"Mmmmm... Well that's a start. But I still don't think you're being ONE-hundred percent honest with me..."

"You still don't believe that's the real Lena, do you? Which means you're passively calling me a LIAR!" Magica threw both of her arms around the duckling's neck and held her off the floor, choking her in the process.

"Now I COULD slap you again for that. You being the dishonest, disobedient little fool you truly are... But-"

"-Just hold a sec Magica." Lena casually interrupted her aunt and walked up to her.

"There's only one surefire way to see exactly how Webby here sees me. But before we start, let's hear it from her mouth one more time..."

"...Well pink? Speak up. Am I real, or am I a fake?" The teenager smirked as she crouched down close to Webby's face.

"Get- Get ahway from me you... IMPAHSTER." Webby attempted to kick the Lena away from her.

"Lennah is my BEST FRIEND! Ah KNOW HER! You're- You're just a sham! An unconvincing, but beauhtiful SHAM!"

"...Heh-heh. Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it, really. But I have to agree with my Aunt Magica here. I still don't think you're being one-hundred percent honest."

"You might just be in denial, or you could be just slipping. But I think-"

"-I'm- I'm naaut in DENIAL!" Webby suddenly blurted out in frustration and pain.

"YOU'RE BOTH LIAHRS! YOU CAHN'T FOOL ME!" She struggled about in Magica's tight grasp, her feet now touching the floor.

"...Really? Prove it then." Lena almost instantly pulled a familiar diamond dagger out of nowhere and skillfully flung it into air, letting it stab through the the floor and only barely missing Webby's feet.

"Stab me..." She smiled.

"...what?" The young duckling and Magica spoke in unison and looked forward together with growing anxiety.

"So, you're one-hundred percent sure I'm not your Lena, right?"

"...Wellllll-"

"-Okay then..." The shadowy teenager calmly snapped her fingers with a smirk, instantly uniting the overtightened ropes around Webby's wrists, much to her relief.

"Hey, that's cool. Where did you learn to-" The duckling stopped gently rubbing her sore wrists and froze as her friend pulled up her striped sweater and shirt. It genuinely disturbed her how much she liked it.

"Stab me right through the chest..."

'...Uhhh-" Webby stalled, her face turning a bright shade of red.

"Prove to me there's not a single piece of doubt left in your mind a run me through... I won't dodge. Heh-heh-heh. I promise." The teenager smiled darkly as she stood still only ten feet away.

"L-Lena? What are you doin-"

"-Aunt Magica, please. This is just between me and Webby." The sorceress was quickly interrupted by her niece.

"You trust me, right?" She gave Magica an intense, threatening look.

"Of- Of course. Lena, DEAR." The sorceress answered with an obvious lack of trust and confusion in her voice.

"Good..."

"Go ahead pink. The real Lena would never tell her Webby to stab her, right?"

"...Y-Y-Yes." The duckling stuttered as her mind raced in a circle at high speeds.

"Well, then I must be a fake right? Pick up the dagger and kill me already..." Lena's smile grew wider as she watched Webby slowly pick up the shiny weapon at her feet and looked it over, eventually noticing two familiar sleeping figures in the dark corner of the room.

"Wait... Whhat ahre they doing here?"

"HUH?" Magica rapidly slammed her first against the wooden door to the room, waking up both Doofus Drake and Jim Starling asleep at a table.

"Wha- Huh? WHAA?!" The masked duck sat up in confusion and glanced around the room.

"...Wait." He pulled out an assortment of random sharp weapons and held them all up.

"Who gave the kid a knife?! Little kids and knives definitely don't mix! I know from personal experience..."

"Relax dark. She's not going to kill any of us... Excluding me of course."

"...Oh."

"Well this should be fun!" Jim put his weapons away and sat back down in his chair with a smile.

"But- But ah-"

"-Hey. You're not chickening out already are you?" Lena interrupted her young friend.

"That's- What's the word? Really disappointing, Englabeth..."

...

"...No. You- You-" Webby's breathing stopped as her hands shook and trembled, nothing made sense with this Lena. Everything about her was perfect, except for her attitude. It looked like her. It spoke like her, It smelled like her. And it knew things only the real Lena should seemingly know. The only visible flaw with her though was the way she acted.

The Lena Webby knew was an understanding, kind, but moody teen rebel. And she still loved her despite her shortcomings. But this Lena was just a cold, perverse, soulless knock off of her best friend. A true sham.

"L-Lenahh..." The duckling let the dagger drop to the floor and held her head in her hands. Falling to her knees, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the terrible headache she was experiencing.

"Well pink? I can't stand here all night. Just stab me and get it over with. Unless, you were lying earlier, and actually believe I'm the real deal..." Lena's wicked smile grew wider.

"I- Ahh..." Webby frowned and slowly stood up with the dagger in her hands. Without saying a single word, she turned towards Jim Starling in his chair and held her weapon upwards.

"...You." She spoke as she began breathing heavily with tears in her eyes.

"YOU!"

"-If someone doesn't stop you now, ah bunch ahf innocent people could get HUhhuRT."

"Blow up hospitahls? Run people ahover?"

"...HAhh! Well ah won't let you, Jim Starhling! NnnnnaahhAAAAHHH!" Webby shouted at the top of her lungs and began running towards the masked duck with all her strength to stab him dead.

"Waaahh-AHHH!?" The actor tried to shield himself with his hands in fear as the duckling approached him with murder in her eyes.

"HYAAAH!" Webby tightly shut her eyes and brought down the diamond dagger, resulting with a loud, feminine groan from in front of her.

...

"Le- Lenaah?" The duckling slowly cracked open her eyes to see that she had somehow stabbed her best friend Lena, as the shiny diamond dagger had been buried deep into her right shoulder.

"Heh-heh-heh... Well, you missed by juuuuust that much." The teenager chuckled to herself as she clutched her bleeding wound, straining her feathered hand with her black, shadowy blood.

"But hey... At least you proved your point..." Webby, Magica, and Jim all watched silently in shock as Lena smeared the blood across her unnaturally calm face and licked her fingers off with a smirk.

"I'm sorry, want some?"

"...Who- Whoever you ahre, pleahse. Just tell me the truhth. Please, a'm- not sure. Who- Who-"

"-Who am I?" Webby was interrupted by the still bleeding teenager, as the dagger was still stuck deep in her shoulder.

"Heh-heh. Muh-ha-ha..."

"Okay. All-ow me to show you..." The shadow teenager bent down into a curtsy and snapped her fingers above her head, slowly melting her flesh and blood into a pitch black puddle on the floor, only leaving behind her shoes, clothes, and the blood soaked dagger.

"Surprise surprise, I'm not the real Lena." An unfamiliar feminine voice spoke loudly from all corners of the room.

"Well... Ahf- Ahf course you aren't!" Webby spoke aloud as a wave of relief shot throughout her body.

"HEY! This wasn't part of the PLAN!" Magica ran up in anger and began clawing desperately at the black puddle on the floor in search of her ally.

"Admit it. You actually thought you had stabbed your precious little girlfriend for a bit..." Webby was suddenly lifted off the floor by an unseen magical force.

"Hey! Lena isn't mah girlfriehnd!" She spoke as she struggled and fought about in the air.

"She's just a friend. Who also happens to be ah girl."

"...Anhd is also beautiful."

"And that ah canh't stop thinking about..."

"...And that ah want to forcefully squeeze and cuhddle."

"And that ah wish would kidnap me and keep me in her closet..."

"And that I want to wear her clothes, tie up in mah bed along with myself and sleep with her... Who also isn't mah girlfriehnd!" The duckling yelled upwards at no-one visible in particular.

"...This- This is the same sweet, innocent little girl that tried to KILL ME?!" Jim Starling asked, surprisingly still in shock for an insane person.

"But, but you-"

"-Saved your life? Yes, you're welcome. You don't have to thank me for it, really." The cold, ghostly voice spoke directly to the actor.

"WAIT! You're- You're Celia Facilier arhen't you..." Webby guessed aloud, lifting her hand and pointer finger upwards.

"No, WAIT! Tha Shadowess of Samaria! No, WAIT! Th-"

"-Muh-ha-ha." The voice interrupted with a soft chuckle.

"I'm sorry. Two guesses is all you get..." Webby was gently sat back down on the floor as a dark shadow figure in the shape of an anthromorphic pig emerged from underneath her. Lifting the confused duckling by the hand to her feet, the shadow gave her a friendly smile and shook her hand.

"Name's Circe young heroine, Goddess of magic. Beloved mother of Telegonus, and daughter of Helios and Perse. Sure you've heard of me. Hi, how ya doin'?"

...

"...CIRCE?!" Both Webby and the real Lena back at McDuck Manor exclaimed loudly in surprise. Webby in unmatched fangirl joy, and Lena in dread.

"Ahf COURSE ah've heard about YOU!" The young duckling continued to shake the shadow's hand, ignoring all the pain she was experiencing.

"Thah legends, the epics, tha contrived plot devices. Ah'im your BIGGEST FAN!"

"...Hey! You can't be her biggest fan, I'm her biggest fan!" Magica suddenly pulled the excitedly kicking Webby backwards and held her in the air.

"Circe is my IDOL! My LIFE! I'm her last living disciple! Me! MAGICA-"

"-WAIT!" The duckling stop kicking and struggling as she fell into realization.

"...Ah was kissed by ah goddess?" She turned to the sorceress holding her closely.

"And I repeat. Ah was KISSED, by ah GODDESS?! Not to mention licked and love nibbled by one too..."

"Well, guess ah can cross that off mah bucket list! Heh-heh-ha!"

"...Sorry to disappoint you my young follower, but I'm afraid you won't be remembering this, precious moment between us." Circe instantly teleported Webby back into her grasp and felt over the weight attached to her tongue.

"Whhat?"

"You have to understand Webbigailie. Surprisingly, unlike that lowly witch over there, I really don't have anything against you, or your Uncle Scrooge or anything-"

"LOW-LY WITCH!?" Magica pulled out her wand and began to march forward.

"I'm freaking Magica De Spell! The Sorceress of the Shadows! The Shadow Queen! The Dark Shadow Lying in Wait! The Last Disciple of-"

"-The Downfall of the McDucks! Maybe YOU'VE HEARD OF ME?!"

"-I don't have the time and energy to hold pointless grudges against mere mortals..." Circe and Webby watched as Magica lifted her wand to cast a spell at them.

"...I just effortlessly-" Snap!

The goddess snapped her shadowy fingers together, instantly reducing the skeleton sorceress into ashes on the floor with a scream.

"-wipe them out..."

"...WHOA! What ah twist!" Webby wiggled out onto the floor and began throwing her enemy's ashes triumphantly in the air.

"Lenaah didn't betray me, you betrayed Maghica! Thank you great Circe! Ah promise you, for the rest of mah life, ah will-"

"-Wait, whaat we're you saying about me not remembering agahin?" She asked.

"...Excuse me. Circe?"

"My name is... Lena."

"Huh-"

The goddess took a step back and snapped her fingers, surrounding Webby in a bright, blinding light.

* * *

...

The memories were slowly returning to her. They burned into her mind, leaving recurring images of betrayal and blood in her soul.

The shadow teen who she thought was her best friend had broken her trust. Betrayed her.

It... It was just an accident. She could never bring herself to do it. But it still happened, she had stabbed her best friend right in the shoulder.

She... She didn't mean it.

She didn't.

"-NO! W-W-WAIT! That couldn't have been her! It- It's impossible!"

"NO! NO! NO-"

The groan she heard after she closed her eyes was unmistakable. It was her, and only her.

When she had opened her eyes, she couldn't take her gaze away from the horror scene in front of her. Her blood had already soaked through her sweater and onto her hand.

"-NOOO!" I- I DIDN'T DO IT! LENA IS MY FRIEND! SHE-"

Stop fighting it. Your will is mine and only mine. Just relax, everything will be fine.

"-LENA!"

"I'm- I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Hush now. You cannot resist my spells and grim devising. For the goddess of magic is rising.

"NOOO! I- I-"

HOCUS, JOKUS!

In an instant, Lena felt her best friend's heart shatter to pieces.


	14. In the Shadow of a Doubt!

Lena thought she had come up with a one-hundred percent foolproof plan.

After being restored back to her original feathered physical form by her new adopted sister Violet Sabrewing, she quickly remembered the time her Aunt Magica had forced her to magically spy on her life-long greatest enemy, Scrooge McDuck. Directly through his own eyes no less.

'Scout Interceding'. It was both a simple, but most delightfully overcomplicated spell her Aunt Magica had told her. While holding your target's most prized possession in your hands, and having a powerful enough source of magic at your disposal, any able-minded person could easily focus hard enough to pull it off. And the sorceress knew even a simple-minded little shadow familiar like Lena could get it to work with no problems.

Although she knew that the spell would also bring any pain she could possibly be experiencing onto herself, and that Magica herself had told her in a dream that she had already hurt her best friend, Lena was still willing to take the risk to spy through Webby's eyes and hopefully discover where her aunt had taken her unwilling captive.

To Lena's surprise, it turned out she was both her own source of magic, and her best friend's most prized possession at the same time. Simply by hugging herself, she had accidently activated the spell, just in time to share all of Webby's pain and discomfort, shortly before her Aunt Magica had decided to stop relentlessly tormenting her young prisoner. The last thing the sorceress wanted to do at the time was to actually kill the duckling, and even she knew when to ease up on her.

Yet, even after Magica had stopped her torturous assault against Webby, Lena continued to let herself suffer along with her best friend, in hopes that her aunt would eventually let it slip on their location.

Lena felt it all. The once harsh temperatures in the walk-in freezer, the now cliche but still painful face slapping, the kicking, the punching, the choking, the shocks, the sensation of knives cutting at her feet, the weight attached to her tongue, the awkward fondling, the hunger pangs and thirst, the unbearable insomnia, everything, as Magica continued to prolong the most enjoyable experience of her life.

But the thing that got the teenager's most attention was the appearance of HERSELF among her Magica's cohorts in crime. A frightfully calm, devious, somehow even more sarcastic design of what her aunt had given her fifteen years ago.

Lena felt it deep in her soul, even through her best friend's frail, significantly regressed body. She could feel the power and influence coming from within the dark, shadowy teen.

She wasn't just another mindless shadow given sentience and a physical living body by the vengefull sorceress, she was more than that, as she herself had already confirmed for Webby against Magica's wishes.

Having stolen Lena's original body and taken it for her own use, the spirit summoned back to the world of the living by Magica De Spell, was none other than the fallen goddess of magic herself. Circe.

It all had happened so fast after that. At first, it actually seemed that Circe wasn't going to go along with Magica's betrayal set up, as with only a simple snap of her fingers, she had reduced the skeleton sorceress to ash, banishing her shadowy soul from reality in the process.

But no. Webby had seen through Magica's and Circe's scheme, and quickly realized that the teenager standing tall in front of her couldn't possibly be her Lena. At least, that's what she had thought so at first.

It was Lena's body, Lena's brain, and Lena's memories, all in control of a restless, ancient greek goddess. And with only a casual utterance of a single fake identity was enough to put doubt in Webby's mind that her best friend's close relationship with her, had been nothing more than an act of cruel manipulation.

"Hey. You're not chickening out already are you? That's- What's the word? Really disappointing, Englabeth..." Lena's all too familiar voice echoed throughout her young friend's mind.

She challenged, no, dared the duckling to accept that her and Lena's friendship was fake by giving her a chance to stab her right through the chest, possibly letting her prove that their past interactions weren't genuine and that the goddess was just a sham.

But Webby couldn't do it. Her poor mental health and now childish judgment couldn't decide between Real Lena, and Fake Lena. Even if she was just a big faker, the duckling still loved her enough not to take her life in such a violent, gory fashion. Just as her friend Violet had told her earlier, living shadows can't be hypnotized or brainwashed, and Webby couldn't take that risk.

Lifting the vesuvian dagger in her small, shaking hands, the duckling aimed her weapon towards Magica De Spell's masked partner, Jim Starling.

The old duck had said so himself, he planned on committing several mass terroristic crimes against Duckburg and it's citizens in order to draw out Drake Mallard and skin him alive on live television. A fitting end to that hack, goody-two-shoes actor he thought.

Not wanting to harm her best friend in any way, even if she had betrayed her trust, Webby gripped the diamond dagger tightly in her hands and dashed towards Jim Starling sitting in a chair, hoping to quickly stab him dead.

The duckling knew very well it was murder, and that she could possibly one day go to prison for it, but she still didn't care. Quickly ending the life of a person threatening to kill possibly hundreds of innocent people was worth the punishment.

It was, the right thing to do. Right?

But somehow, the dagger missed. As right before Webby began to swiftly bring down her sharpened weapon, Circe in Lena's body quickly teleported in the way, taking the metaphorical bullet that was instead meant for the now deranged actor.

"Heh-heh-heh... Well, you missed by juuuuust that much."

"But hey... At least you proved your point..." The shadowy teenager spoke as she licked her own blood off her fingertips.

Except, that's not way Webby remembered it.

Those final memories had been wiped clean from her mind as Circe cast her magic into the duckling's fragile memory banks, replacing them with much more grisly memories of violence and blood.

Instead of simply burying the sharpened dagger into her best friend's shoulder, the blade had stabbed through her right eye and down the teen's face, leaving a deep, bloody cut that stained her white feathers pure red. With an agonizing cry, Lena fell to her friend's feet and sobbed uncontrollably.

It was all true. Lena had faked her entire relationship with Webby just to mess with her, and it was all part of her Aunt Magica's plan of grim vengeance.

With a shrill cry of her own, the young duckling screamed and dropped the bloody dagger to the floor, begging desperately for her friend to forgive her. It was, it was just part of Lena's personality. She was a born liar, a manipulator, and a troll.

Lena had made a fool of her, but Webby still loved her, with all her heart.

* * *

...

"Careful now, she's danger-oouus." Magica spoke mockingly as she and Jim Starling began dragging the sobbing and blubbering young duckling away from her motionless victim on the floor.

"LENAAAAAHHH!"

"I'm- I'm SORR- Uuuuhhh!" Webby was quickly cut off as the now reconstructed skeleton sorceress pulled on the collar around her neck. As far as she knew, everything was going according to her master plan.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TOO- Hrrkk!" The duckling was choked as she was lifted up in the air by her collar.

"We'll have to restrain her again. She's likely to hurt herself like this..." Magica said as she continued to strangle her young captive half to death.

"...I know!"

The sorceress lifted up her hand and snapped her fingers together, instantly summoning a suspiciously small white garment with straps all over it and unusually long sleeves. 

"Created waaaay back in the late eighteenth century, mentally ill patients and little fools like Webby here were strapped in these to keep them from seriously harming themselves and others."

"...Aaannnnnd I think it's fair to say that she counts for both of those."

"ISN'T THST RIGHT? WEBBY?" Magica mocked as she held her captive only inches away from her empty, skeleton face.

"Here, let me help you take that itchy ol' costume off you now..."

Gently sitting the duckling back on her feet, the sorceress threw aside the pet cone and dog ears that were strapped to her head and began slowly pulling her up and out of her furry contume. At this point, Webby didn't care anymore, as she didn't even react to being fully exposed in the air.

"Well, you impress me again Webby..." Magica stuck her dry skeleton hand down to the bottom of the leotard and felt it over.

"Not a single drop. You must have a bladder of steel..."

"Say Webby! You know why they call it a... strait-jacket?" Magica asked as she fitted the white garment around the duckling's upper body, almost immediately changing the subject.

"...You know. Because you're not- straight- Uh. Well! There was a good joke in there somewhere!" The sorceress said as she finished tying the long sleeves together off on the jacket and slapped Webby hard on the back.

"Now, we're almost done. There! Tell me, how does it feel? Snug enough for you, FOOL?" Magica asked with a sick smile as she raised the duckling's head up by her chin.

...

"Still not snug enough? Okay then, I can fix that..."

Hardly being able to contain her childish, sadistic excitement, the sorceress quickly grabbed the final loose strap hanging from the front of the straitjacket and pulled it right between Webby's legs.

"Say, uh. Shouldn't she being wearing pants with this or something?" Jim Starling questioned as Doofus continued to stare at them calmly.

"...Yes." The sorceress simply answered.

"I deeply apologize for this Webby, but this is for your own good..."

With a sudden painful tug, Magica tied the strap to the back of the straitjacket, way over-tightening it and finally getting a reaction of pain out of the duckling.

"Uuuuggh!"

"MAGICA! PLEASE TAKE LENA TO THE HOSPITAL! Webby had somehow gotten the hang of speaking clearly again, dispite the heavy weight still being attached to her tongue.

"She- She doesn't deserve to die. Not like this..."

"Not like-"

"It's all your own fault FOOL!" Magica sharply slapped Webby across the back of her head.

"This never would have happened if you hadn't had been so ignorant and just accepted the TRUTH!"

"...You don't know Lena very well at all. Do you?"

...

"No. I- I don't..." The duckling continued to weep silently as she tried to fall to her knees, only to be yanked back to her feet from her collar.

"Uuggh- Ughh-"

"What is it Webby? Can't breathe? What a shame..." The sorceress could barely hold back her laughter as she watched her young enemy cry and kick about weakly.

"Hey, don't feel TOO bad Webby. I have always had the strong urge to stab directly into people's eye sockets too."

"You and me. We're not that different you see..."

Grabbing a handful of the duckling's head feathers, Magica let go of the collar and gently swung her captive back and forth.

"I'm nothing like YOU!" Webby closed her eyes and cried softly, getting herself smacked hard twice across the rear.

"There you go again. Poor, FOOLISH little Webbigail. Just as ignorant as ever..."

"Heh-heh. Chubby little crybaby."

"...Chubby? How can I be chubby?!" The duckling suddenly perked up in anger and began fighting against her straitjacket and the tight strap between her legs.

"I avoid junk food! Except chocolate... I eat my vegetables! I do my morning stretches! I HAVEN'T HAD ANYTHING TO EAT IN DAYS! I'M STARVING HERE!"

"AAHHH!" The sorceress pulled back on the weight hanging out of her captive's mouth.

"And who's fault is that? Huh?" Magica asked as she let go of Webby's head feathers, casually holding her off the floor by her tongue again.

"Well, besides that round purple nanny of your's for obviously spoiling you. That's why you're a little PLUMP around the edges..."

"Little crybaby fat. HA!" The sorceress laughed and dropped Webby onto the floor.

"Facetious fat shamer..." Webby muttered.

"...Wait, LENA!"

The duckling somehow kicked herself to her feet to try and run up to her still bleeding friend on the floor, only to be stopped by her collar tightening around her neck.

"Why do you even bother?"

"Have you forgotten already? Hmph. Not surprising really..." Magica slowly pulled Webby backwards and laid her flat on her back in her lap.

"Magica, please... Don't let-" The duckling was cut off by a painful slap to the face.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! It's MaaaahSTER MAGICA! You'll refer to me as that, and only that..."

"Oh, and maybe sometimes, The Forewoman of Fools. Heh, whichever you prefer..."

Webby sighed and closed her eyes.

"...Master Magica, Forewoman of Fools-"

SLAP!

"-AHHH!"

"Master Magica, THE Forewoman of Fools! Say it..." The sorceress held up a threatening open palm.

"...Master Magica, The Forewoman of Fools-"

SLAP!

"-AHHH! CUT IT OUT!"

SLAP! Magica slapped her even harder.

"Say PLEEEEEEEASE! Or else I'll be forced to get the switch..." The sorceress quickly flipped Webby onto her stomach.

"Please, Master Magica, The Forewoman of Fools. I swear, I'll do anything you want. I surrender. Just please don't let Lena die..." Webby's tone was now completely genuine.

"...Hmph." The sorceress smacked her for no reason whatsoever.

"Foolish fool! You would really give yourself up to me, just to save the life of a disgusting little shadow creature that betrayed your trust? And not just any disgusting little shadow creature, but my VERY own disgusting little SHADOW?"

"...That is, very foolishly selfless of you Webby."

"It's not just for me..." The duckling began.

"Lena has a family now. Violet, Indy and Ty, they- they all love her. They've got to be worried sick about her."

"...What's it with you fools and actually giving love and affection to a-"

"-SHADOW, of all things?!"

"It's just... pa-thetic." Magica scoffed down at her young captive and re-tightened her painful restraints.

"But you DID swear that you'd do ANYTHING I want..."

"So okay. I'll spare her life..." The sorceress calmly snapped her fingers together, instantly teleporting the unconscious teenager away in a red cloud of smoke.

"She has now arrived at the local veterinarian's office. I'm sure they'll get her fixed and patched up noooo problem!" 

"After all, whoever died by getting stabbed in the eye? Am I right?"

"...Thank you. Master Magica." Webby pretended not to sound offended, even though she was thankful that Lena would be alright now.

"Good girl!" Magica gently patted the duckling's soft, feathered head.

...

"Soooo... Uh. What now?" Jim Starling asked as he walked up to pat Webby too, only to have his hand sharply slapped away at the last second.

"Ah- Ah- Ah!" The sorceress pulled her captive into a tight, constricting hug.

"She's all MINE now. And you can't have her! You may borrow her, and you may look at her, but you can't have her!"

"Oh, okay. May I borrow her for a while for, particularly, child traumatizing reasons?" The masked duck began rubbing his hands together with a smile.

"NO! Well, maybe. We'll see Jim darling..."

"...Okay! Magica sat the very depressed looking Webby upwards on her lap and forced her to make close eye contact.

"For starters, how about saying, Master Magica, I love you?"

"...Master Magica, I, l-love y-you." The duckling truly hated herself for saying that out loud.

"GOOD!"

"Okay. How about saying, I am mental, pompous, a marshmallow coward, and a dumb little whore face that ate her own poopy eggshells?"

"...Seriously?" The duckling frowned.

SLAP!

"Say IT!" The sorceress held her bony hand up, ready to snap.

"Or else Lena-"

"I AM MENTAL, POMPOUS, A MARSHMALLOW COWARD, AND A DUMB LITTLE WHORE FACE THAT ATE HER OWN POOPY EGGSHELLS!" Webby cried loudly.

...

"...See? That wasn't so bad, was it now?" Magica managed to hold back her laughter and gently stroked Webby's mildly exasperated face.

"N-No..."

"...Eww."

"Okay. How about violently ravaging and murdering every last member of Scrooge McDuck's foolish family while the old soggy sack of feathers helplessly watches and then leaving them to die gruesome lonely deaths in their own pools of blood?"

"...Wait, WHHHAAAAA-" Webby shouted at the top of her lungs with her tongue hanging out, only to be promptly silenced as the sorceress clamped her bill shut, crushing her tongue.

"-Hey, we’ve all got the power in our hands to KILL child! But most little ones like yourself are unfortunately too afraid to use it. The ones who aren’t afraid, well, they're just ahead of the game..."

"...I, I can't-" SLAP!

"Listen up you FOOL! You swore on your STUPID fake friend's life that you'd do anything I wanted. And I'm holding you to that... No matter what."

"But- But-" SLAP!

"SHUT UP, YOU IMPUDENT BRAT!"

"The only butt around here is the dirty little feathered one I'm going to go medieval on unless you do WHAT, YOU'RE, TOLD!"

"I... I..." The duckling closed her eyes and began to quietly cry to herself again.

"...I understand Webby. Once a fool, always a fool I see. So be it." Magica glared silently in anger as Webby continued to weep softly to herself.

SLAP!

"Save your tears child! I’ll reap your sorrow slowly. Making you tremble from the mere sight of my HANDS!"

"...Oh, and by the way."

"There is another little child in your belly... I just saw it crawl across the floor and climb up into you. Just thought I should warn you..."

"Whaa-" Webby was quickly interrupted as the sorceress shoved her onto the floor, and then lifted her up in her air with her magic.

"So. You like playing with cute little beanie baggies don't you fool?"

"Well, today is your LUCKY day! As you finally have the chance to BE one yourself! Isn't that just GREAT?"

With a loud familiar cackle, Magica violently threw Webby face first against the high ceiling, smashing apart the expensive glass light fixture that once hung above them.

"AH-HA-HA-HA! YES!"

"Feel my WRAA-ATH!" The sorceress swung the young duckling across the room and threw her against the wooden door.

"Ouch! That's gonna hurt in the morning! Oh wait, it's already morning! NEVER-MIIINND! AH-HA-HA!"

"But wait! There's more..." With a wide, wicked smirk spread across her face, Magica waved her wand about aimlessly, smacking Webby all around the room at high speeds, finishing off by repeatedly slamming her hard against the floor.

"I'm tough, ambitious, and I know EXACTLY what I WANT! If that makes me a witch, okay. OKAY?!" She swung down her wand for the final time, slamming the motionless duckling stomach down onto the floor.

"...Speak up FOOL! What do you have to say for yourself NOW?!" The sorceress walked up smugly and grabbed Webby by her now loose arm, taking notice of it's poor condition.

"Well this is broken..." She let the duckling's wrist fall limply to the floor.

"...Oh, she's out cold."

Still not feeling a single bit of sympathy or compassion for her young victim, Magica angrily kicked Webby onto her back.

"GET UP SLAVE! If think being unconscious will make me give you mercy! Then you're DEAD wron- Ooooh!" The sorceress paused, realizing how severely bruised and scratched the duckling's face was. Dispite this, both Jim Starling and Doofus remained calm and unalarmed.

"Aww. She looks so sad and pitiful like this, how cute..." The masked duck's long, toothy smile continued to spread across his face.

"...J-J-Just k-k-kill me already you c-c-cowards!" Webby stuttered, only able to open her left eye now.

"I-I-I I don't even deserve to liv-"

"...I TOLD you already! GET, UP!" Magica jerked the injured duckling to her feet and held her upwards.

"Master Magica. I don't feel so goo- Hhrk!"

"Well, DUHHHHHHH!" Magica mocked as she griped Webby's neck tightly in her hands.

"Now, if you don't mind. I have an important, SURPRISE visit that needs to be attended to. And surprisingly, the quickest route is straight through a little feathered fool like you..."

"Now. If you please-" The sorceress patted Webby's bill and smirked.

"-OPEN, UP."

Quickly obeying her master's orders, the duckling tightly shut her eyes and opened her mouth as wide as she could.

"Wider."

"Wider."

"WIDER."

"C'MON!"

SLAP!

As soon as Webby had opened her eye and complained, she was struck across the side of her face the hardest slap Magica had pulled off yet, causing the duckling to squeak softly into submission.

"Hold still. There, PERFECT! Good girl..."

Slowly lifting her hand above her head and snapping her fingers together, the undead sorceress transformed her skeleton form into a grey, stone statue of her own image.

Tearing her familiar shadowy soul free into the air, Magica quickly swooped down towards Webby below her and gripped her tightly, her burning red eyes blazing brightly with excitement.

Forcing the duckling's heavily injured right eye open, the sorceress dug her hands deep into Webby's eye sockets, while also shoving the rest of her shadow form down her throat. Not surprisingly, she began fighting and struggling in a panic when she realized what was going on.

"Jim! Doofus! Hold her still..." Magica echoed loudly from inside the duckling, half of her still sticking outside of her mouth.

"...DOO- DOO-" Lena was interrupted as she felt her body began to shake and then stiffin up.

"Doo-"

"Eh! Do WHAT?! What's happening now!?" Scrooge McDuck in Louie's body frantically grabbed a hold of the teenager's sweater to try and get her attention.

"I'm not done with you yet. You still have to learn the true, golden value of... GRIM, discipline..." The shadowy sorceress finished as she split herself apart and disappeared down into the young duckling's eyes and throat.

"Lena? LENA?! PLEASE, WEBBY! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Dewey in Launchpad's body lifted his friend out of his uncle's chair and screamed into her ear.

...

"...Run." Lena whispered.

"Run!"

"RUN!"

"RUUUUU-AAAUUHHHHH-!" In a instant, Lena's head was violently thrown backwards as Magica quickly emerged out of her eyes and mouth with a laugh, leaving the teen hanging motionlessly off the floor underneath her aunt's shadowy form.

Blinking slowly, the sorceress floated silently above her niece, as her long dark shadow coils were still attached from inside Lena's body. The Scout Interceding had finally been dispelled.

"Top of the morning to you all... pesky brats..."


	15. If It Looks Like a Lena!

...

"Kids, get behind me- ahh-"

"-No." Lieutenant Penumbra quickly pushed aside Scrooge McDuck in Louie's body and stood tall in front of him.

"You get behind ME! Song long, earth witch..." The moonlander charged her ray gun to full power and fired off a shot towards the motionless dark shadow sorceress in the room, being careful not to shoot Lena by accident.

"...HAAA!"

Magica De Spell instantly transformed her right shadow hand into the shape of a tennis racket and swung it down, sending the burning shot of energy back at Penumbra and hitting her right in the shoulder.

"AAHHH!" The proud moon warrior clutched her scalding injury and fell to her knees, dropping the ray gun to the floor.

"Advantage, right team..." The sorceress spoke coldy as she continued to hover silently over her niece.

"NOOOO Penny!" Della Duck in Donald's body ran up to her fallen friend and tried to lift her up.

"Uhh! Speak to ME! You survived a spaceship crash explosion... In SPAAACE! You're gonna be fine!"

"...Cr-Crescent curses and full blood moons... I've been hit, struck down. By a, fleshless... Urgh! Night hag."

"D-D-Dam- Dang it!" Penumbra held back her mild curse as she slumped over and laid motionlessly in her friend's arms.

"...No." Della whispered and let the moonlander fall limp to the floor.

"Hey LADY! You'll pay for killing my best moon bestie!" Della yelled upwards at Magica and pulled back Donald's sleeves. She was ready to fight.

"...I'm not dead, but thanks for the the thought. Errgh! Make her pay anyway, Dumbella Duck..." Penumbra finished as she tossed Della her unharmed gun and then fell back unconscious on the floor.

"Ah- Ah- Ah. I really don't think you want to do that..." Magica waved a shadowy finger back and forth as Donald's sister aimed the ray gun directly at her.

"You see, me being obviously the most powerful and feared shadow plus skeleton sorceress in the known multi-verse... I'm invincible. And if you shoot me, well, you'll just end up hurting Lena here instead..."

...

"You're lying!" Della held the ray gun back up and charged it to full.

"Della NO! LEENNNA!" Donald in Della's body tried to pull the dangerous weapon away from his sister.

"She's lying, I know it!" Della pushed her brother away.

"This is Magica! You know she'd let herself get shot just for more pointless self cruelty!"

"MOM PLEASE! LENA! YOU CAN'T-" Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body lifted his struggling mother up in his arms, only to have the still charged ray gun magically float high above them.

Waving her hand back, Magica slowly took a hold of the weapon in her left hand and aimed it at her head.

"Hmph..." The sorceress pulled the trigger, causing Lena to emit a muffled groan and began clawing blindly at her aunt's dark shadow coils.

"LENA!" Both Huey and Dewey yelled in unison and held up the teenager, still hanging limply from her eyes and mouth.

"Aw phooey..." Della felt crushed.

"...DE SPELL!" Scrooge straightened his top hat and marched forward with the tip of his cane aimed at Magica.

"YOU- You two-faced trollop! Nefarious nymphomaniac! Fraudulent fornicatress! Waahhh-" The shadowy sorceress quickly snatched Scrooge up by his right foot and held him upside down close to her face.

"Well hello there, little Scroogey..." Magica watched as her arch enemy seethed silently in anger, still holding his hat a top his head.

"Now, before we continue, sorry, I'm just a tad bit confused... which little fool are you upset about this time?"

"...Could it be, that poor little lost blighter known as Webby VanderWACK?"

"Uh, it's actually Vanderqua- AAHHH!" Dewey in Launchpad's body was knocked back as Magica whipped him sharply in the face with a shadow.

"Hmmm... VanderqaAAHHH is it?" The sorceress asked in a mocking tone.

"Okay. I'll have to try and remember that."

"...Or possibly. This, WORTHLESS CREATURE beneath ME?"

"I'm sorry. That worthless creature-" Violet in Randy's body paused.

"-that creature..."

"She just happens to be my big sister. Sorry Lena." The hummingbird quickly apologized.

"...Really? I had a sibling of my own too. He was a raven, who knows where he is..." Magica spoke as she reclined back in the air.

"Of course, he wasn't exactly the brightest bird in the nest, but he was good company..."

"Especially since that he was actually, a REAL person." Violet watched as Lena seemed to shrink down in shame.

"Excuse me... I've studied her closely. She's a fascinating, AMAZING person. She does everything a normal person does and more. Just because she's made of magic doesn't mean she's inferior..." Violet finished standing up for her big sister.

"...Hmph!" The shadowy sorceress unreclied and fully focused on Violet.

"You may think this, THING looks like a person. Walks on two legs, wears clothes, covered with feathers, right?

"But apparently, you didn't study her HARD enough. You seemed to have missed the excessive foaming at the mouth, walking into walls and doors like a blind fool, sudden panic attacks, crying out like a little baby for her mommy that doesn't even exist, wanting to eat out of dog bowls and trash cans..."

"Wait, does she actually do all that?" Dewey asked.

"...Some of it, unfortunately." Violet sighed.

"I hate to give you credit for this, Magica-" She continued.

"-but you creating her from your own shadow on a whim like that fifteen years ago, is quite impressive..."

"VIOLET! You're not supposed to compliment her! She's the enem- AAHHH!" Huey was interrupted as the sorceress smacked him with a shadow.

"Why thank you dear. I'm glad to finally meet SOMEBODY on the same page as me..." Magica patted Violet on the head.

"Please don't touch me, your approval fills me with great shame." The hummingbird simply replied.

"...Now, since that I'M her creater, not mommy, and MAAASTER, the reason for her existing-"

"-I get to say if she's a person or not..." Magica paused before pulling Lena up to her face by her tail feathers.

"...And no, sorry to break it to you, she is not a person, not even close actually. It doesn't even deserve to wear clothes."

"Poor thing..." The sorceress shook her head slowly as she let the teenager dangle below herself again.

"Take my advice dear. After you finish dragging her home tonight, tie her on her hands and knees to something and use her as an ottoman."

"...What?" Violet questioned Randy's hearing with both a confused and disgusted expression on her face.

"Just sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself. Oh, and be sure to stuff a couple of socks down her mouth and put a tray underneath her. Wouldn't want her to complain and mess everywhere... I'm sure no one will bat an eye." Magica finished as she continued to float motionlessly over Lena.

"...That is so wrong on too many levels to count, and you are terrible." The hummingbird spoke in complete monotone.

"HEY! I'm sure she'll be thankful to finally be SOME sort of use, to us PEOPLE! HA! Wait-" The shadowy sorceress took notice of Louie in Scrooge's body trying to silently tip-toe out of the room.

"-WAAHH!" Louie jumped in surprise as Magica whipped him in the back and telekinetically shut and locked the door in front of him.

"AAHHHH! DUCKWORTH! Let me out, LET ME OUT!" He desperately knocked and fought against the locked wooden door.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt any of you NICE people-" Magica stopped herself to sharply slap Lena in the head.

"-PEOPLE."

"Get on with it De Spell... What are you doing here? Came to gloat I assume." Scrooge said as he continued to hold his top hat to his head.

"Oh, no. Just your casual, friendly, greatest, most hated enemy slash rival visit." The sorceress held Scrooge even closer to her face.

"...You're not, welcome."

"C'mon, don't be such a joyless old killjoy. I took a quick break just to bring you a little, peace offering after all..."

"From what? Starving and torturing an innocent child?" Scrooge asked with his arms folded at his chest, his hat now fressed firmly onto his upside down head.

"Don't forget personally humiliating, relentlessly teasing, and breaking both her feeble mind and spirit. But mostly that, yes..."

"...Rrrrrrrrr." Scrooge growled softly.

"Oh brighten up!" Magica pressed her finger into her greatest enemy's chest.

"I would understand you acting like this if she was actually a member of your FAMILY, and not just some random little insecure fool you LET call you family for... fictitious, heartwarming reasons."

"Tell me Scroogey, why do you allow it? Oh, of course. That old housekeeper of your's forced you to let her call you her family to keep her from crying her poor little heart out at night because her parents and the rest of her family are long up the river styx I assume and you couldn't get her to shut up otherwise? Makes sense..."

...

"Mrs, B?" Della quickly took notice of Webby's grandmother in Huey's body trying to hold back her anger.

"You, HEARTLESS individual!" She pointed a finger up at the shadowy sorceress and spoke in Huey's very unthreatening voice.

"That's my granddaughter you have locked up somewhere! And Scrooge let her call him Uncle on his own accor-" Mrs. Beakley was promptly silenced as Magica lifted her high off the floor my Huey's bill.

"Ooooh! Struck a nerve now did I?"

"Good. I can feel your anger. Strike me down and send me back to the dark pits of the Shadow Realm. OOOP! Sorry, you can't. Because you're just a WEAK, PUNY child, who drools and talks nonsense nerd stuff in his sleep. HA!"

"...Okay. How long have you been spying on all of us?" Dewey asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Not TOO long WORMboy. HA! The sorceress laughed as she lightly whipped him across the room.

"...My greatest accomplishment." Dewey stared forward blankly.

...

"De Spell." Scrooge began.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The piece offering... What is it? A pile of the lass's burnt feathers, or possibly her clothes as you forcibly tore them off her?"

"...What do you take me for, a monster?" Magica asked.

"Well, yes, obviously you do. But besides taking just a LITTLE bit of disciplinary action against her whenever her inner brat revealed herself and she disobeyed, she's been in the best of care."

"...We know what you did to her." Scrooge continued quietly in anger.

"And I know that you know what I did to her..."

"And I'd bet you're SOOOOO proud of yourself right now."

"Am I? Yes, yes..." The sorceress finished their cross conversation.

"You literally punched a hole in her tongue and hung a weight from it! Poor Webby, that has got to hurt..." Louie said.

"HEY! I'm doing you all a favor! She talks WAY too much anyway. Now all you have to do is grab and lightly pull. She'll quiet down for you..." Magica smirked.

"...That is so not okay." The young duck shook his head.

...

"Ahem." Scrooge McDuck quietly cleared his throat and gave Magica a bored look.

"Oh, heh-heh. Right." The sorceress dropped both Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley onto the hardwood floor and snapped her fingers together, instantly summoning a cardboard box wrapped up like a present beside them. But for some strange reason, Lena suddenly began struggling and squirming about uncomfortably.

"Go ahead, open it. It's for ALL of you..."

"...Wait, who's birthday is this?" Launchpad in Dewey's body lifted up the present to shake it.

"Eh, Launchpad-" Scrooge was interrupted as Violet pushed him aside.

"Early morning, October the eighth, Purrhus of Epipurrus, among others..." She simply answered.

"...Well, shouldn't we wait for-"

"JUST, OPEN UP, THE DAMN BOX ALREADY! Stop delaying MY free, needy right, to DARK, GLOATING!" Magica suddenly interrupted Launchpad in petty impatience.

"...Launchpad, throw the box out the window." Scrooge ordered.

"SURE thing Mr. McDee!" The young pilot prepared to throw the wrapped up present straight through the glass window.

"NOOO! GIVE ME THAT- JUST... OPEN THE-" The shadowy sorceress paused upon hearing Lena's muffled, choking laughter below her.

"-Rrraaaaaarrrr! FOOLS!" Magica snatched up both Scrooge and the present in her arms, placing them both back on the hardwood floor.

"Open the present NOW. Or I'll squeeze the very LIFE free out this little freak of magic you call a person..." The sorceress spoke coldy as she threw several dark shadow coils around Lena's neck and stomach, slowly constricting her dead like a powerful snake.

"Okay! Okay! I'll open it! Just don't hurt the lass." Scrooge said as he began ripping the paper off the box.

"Uughh- Ugg- ugh-" The teenager continued to choke as Magica only squeezed her tighter, causing small black shadow creatures to emerge and flee from her body.

"LAY OFF HER ALREADY YOU WITCH! I'M OPENING THE PRESENT!"

"...Sorry Scroogey. But I'm going to have to make an EX-AMPLE out of this, TH-ING for you."

"LENA NO! MAGICA, YOU CAN'T!" Huey ran up and began pulling desperately against the shadows around Lena's neck.

"Magica please! She's my sist-"

"-NOOOOOOO-OOOOH-OOOOH!" Lieutenant Penumbra suddenly sprung up from the floor and ran past Violet to try and help save the teenager's life.

"Heh- Maybe if you had just accepted that she doesn't count as a person, maybe this wouldn't be so painful for you all."

"Hmph! You ignorant fools..."

...

"...O great and powerful Shadow Queen, please spare my honorary sister." Violet spoke as she bowed down in respect in front of Magica.

"V-Violet?! Huey stood back in shock.

"I am at your complete beck and call. I am but a loyal servent. What can I do for you my Queen?"

"It's the only way..." The hummingbird whispered with her face to the floor.

"...Well. Now THIS is more like it!" The sorceress grinned as she slowly unwrapped her tight shadows from around Lena's neck. Violet had just saved her big sister's life.

"OKAY!" With a snap of her fingers, Magica teleported the box into her new servant's hands.

"Open the present..."

"Yes. My queen." Violet sighed as she began to tear the paper off the present.

...

"Oh surprise. There's nothing in here." The hummingbird spoke in a deadpan tone with the empty box in front of her.

"Wait, you where upset over an empty box?!" Louie asked in sudden anger.

"I'm sorry, maybe you didn't hear me the first time. You where going to KILL Lena, over an EMPTY BOX?!" The young duck fearlessly stood up to Magica.

"What? Noooooooo... No, it's not supposed to be empty, must have botched up the spell somehow. Now where did your little gift get to?" The sorceress pretended to look over the room.

"Well it should be around here somewhere. Everyone take five and look for it!" She clapped her hands twice.

"...How are we supposed to search for something we don't even know what it looks like?!" Louie continued angrily.

"Just, g-get outta here and leave Lena alone ALREADY! For someone you keep saying isn't a real person, you're sure giving her a lot of your attention!"

"...You-" Magica stared directly down at Louie and held up a long, dark shadow to him.

"Go ahead, whip me again. I can take it..."

"Hmph!" The shadowy sorceress turned away from the duckling below her and put her hand to her chin.

"...Don't worry Lena. Webby is going to be alright." Louie pulled the hanging teenager into a close hug.

"I'm sure Gizmoduck will find her soon, and-"

"-Wait, what?" The duckling paused as he felt an unusual hard shape inside Lena's stomach and patted it.

"Whhhaaaaaaaat?"

"Oh, heh-heh. There it is." Magica chuckled to herself as she grabbed the teenager by her side.

"What? Wait WHAT?!"

'Your gift. I wonder how it ended up in THERE..." The sorceress spoke in a intentionally unconvincing tone.

"Okay. I wasn't expecting that..." Scrooge commented.

"...Oh, heh, it's a cassette player. Webby begged for me to allow her to record a message and for me to give it to you. AAAANND SINCE that she had BEGGED ME SOOOO NICELY, let's hear it all together already shall we?"

"Now let's see, where is that PLAY button?" The sorceress didn't even try to hide her visible smirk as she reached down below and pressed a button through Lena's body.

CLICK!

After only a few seconds of complete silence in the large dark room, a panicked familiar voice could be heard begging and crying out in anguish from inside of Lena's stomach.

"Webbigail?!" Everyone in the room except Violet and Louie were speechless.

"AAHHH! TURN IT OFF! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Louie quickly covered his ears.

"...I'm sorry. I'm afraid she wasn't able to get her words out very clearly, poor fool. Allow me to translate for you."

"Ahem-" Magica instantly turned off the pained screaming and pretended to clear her throat.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

...

"I- I can't even find the words to describe the crushing emotions I'm feeling right now..." Penumbra took off her golden helmet and began crushing it slowly in her hands.

"Della, what is the Earth slang for insurmountable despondency and endless hatred towards another person?"

"...I'll handle this." Scrooge pushed past the moonlander and stood below Magica.

"DE SPELL!"

"Yes? Little Scroogey, speak up nice and loud so we can all hear you. Okay?" The shadowy sorceress brought her head down to her rival's level.

"...This- This vile disposition of yours! I will not accept it! None off us WILL!"

"This disposition. This- mentality you hold onto. Is the most destructive, inhuman, inexcusable things seen in my life!

"You voluntarily, cheerfully, ignoring the pain and suffering of others, even causing it yourself, on the grounds that you just think it's funny?"

"Well, It's not! No one deserves all of this! Flintheart, Santa Claus, all the rest of my eternal enemies..."

"NOBODY!"

"When you created Lena all those fifteen years ago, all of your humanity, everything that once made you a person like the rest of us, was passed down onto her!"

"You are not a monster, you are not a complete monster-"

"-YOU, are NOTHING!"

"Nothing but an empty, soulless husk of unrelenting hate and malice, targeted towards only a wee child."

"A wee child... That it doesn't matter all what she did to you. She is a person, just like Lena."

Scrooge McDuck slammed his cane upright on the hardwood floor.

"I rest my case..."

...

"Okay, that will do it." Penumbra calmly said in shock.

"...I'm sorry. Are you trying to reason with me? What else is new?" Magica grabbed Scrooge by Louie's hoodie and lifted him high off the floor.

"Think you can beat me just by talking? HA! This is only the beginning. I've got BIG plans for her, Scroogey..." The sorceress couldn't help herself from sticking her shadowy hand up the green hoodie in her hands.

"HEY! That's my body your touching like that! HANDS OFF!" Louie ran up in Scrooge's body in disgust.

"And aren't you glad you're not inhabiting it right now, fool?"

"...Now-" Magica began as she continued to grope Louie's body and snapped her free fingers together, summoning a familiar looking Webby doll in her left hand.

"-anyone here recognize this, little trinket?"

"...It's the doll Webby keeps pinned to her pinboard, but I don't see any reason why-" Louie suddenly stopped in realization.

"-Oh, no..."

"Ooooh no no no no no no."

"...You see, the worst part about torturing Webby is that I can't go TOO far with hurting her little body, so as not to accidentally kill her."

"Her mind though, well, I can break it as much as I please." The sorceress gave Scrooge a subtle smile.

"But with THIS! I can torture her for as much as I want, for as long as I want... With no harmfull consequences."

"...And ALL I have to do is SQUEEZE-" She stopped to crush the delicate doll in her hand.

"-SCORCH." She magically set the cloth doll on fire, somehow without it burning up.

"And STAB-" She stuck a large, sharp shadow needle straight through the doll's head.

"-the three S's, of torture..." Magica finished as Lena began to struggle about underneath her again."

"...I don't care how long it takes, this can go on for years if it has to. Even if she grows back up to her original age of eleven, I'll just regress her back, even younger this time.

"Every hour of every day of every week, I'll torture and inflict her with the worst kinds of pain imaginable."

"I won't let her die. I REFUSE TOO! I'll feed her enough only too keep her BARELY alive."

"She will get no mercy from me. Every second of her life from here on will be nothing more, but her worst nightmare come true..."

"And when she finally breaks, YOU, Scroogey, are going right back where you belong, sealed permanently as only a silver face inside your treasured Number One Dime."

"And as for the rest of you, you all better run. Because Webby will one day find you, and she will kill you, with her own hands, right in front of your Uncle Scrooge's face..."

"Your family, and everyone connected to it, will die! And YOU, head of clan McDuck, will get to relive their final moments, over and over and over and over, for all eternity..."

"And ALL because you kicked your own family out of your house, over your stupid, irresponsible, one-legged moon niece."

...

"Uncle Scrooge, what do we do? I-I can't see anyway out of this." Della asked, trying her best to remain calm for her children.

"We've been in tough spots before, but somebody usually just shows up and saves the day in the nick of time, and then we just laugh it all off."

"But this feels different. We were able to team up and stop a literal alien invasion and still make it out okay..."

"But, but this is-"

"-Except for you..." Magica suddenly interrupted and began circling around Violet like a snake.

"I'm sorry, what?" The young hummingbird was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"You're not like the rest of these fools with their heads far up their tails. Once a ignorant book-nerd, now a true believer in the world of magic... You've seen the light..."

"De Spell, you get away from her- Waahhh!" The sorceress quickly dropped Scrooge to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been giving you all the love and attention you rightfully deserve, I misjudged you. I can teach you everything you could possibly ever want to know about magic."

"...As it's right there in my name, Hmph, Magica De Spell." The sorceress pulled Violet into a close hug.

"Uh guys? This is- This is-"

"-I'm taking you home with me, Violet De Spell..."

"Magica, NO! You're not kidnapping another innocent lass- Ahhhh!" Scrooge was knocked back by a quick whip to the face.

"Kidnapping is such a horrible, nasty little word Scroogey."

"I prefer, surprise adoption..."

"But- But I already have parents. Curse you De Spell!" Violet tried to push the sorceress away from her.

"But not a mommy... Sad."

"...Here let your new MOMMY put you back in your original body, it was so much cuter anyway."

"Wait, reall-" Magica quickly snapped her fingers together, instantly teleporting Violet back into her body, currently wearing pajamas and a sleep mask.

"Ugh. What has Webbigail's elusive soulmate been doing? It seems he has ruined my body's retinas by sitting too close to the television..."

"I'd say sleeping." Huey pulled the mask off of her eyes.

"...Wait, YES! Praise the stars I'm back to normal!" Violet hugged Huey with an unusual amount of emotion in her voice.

"Oh sweet worcestershire! My crass, insensitive voice never sounded so audibly pleas- Waaaaah! The hummingbird was quickly scooped upwards in the air by her foot by Magica.

"SUR-PRISE! You're mine..."

Violet sighed deeply while hanging upside down.

"The only thing that truly owns me is the twisted path I traverse down the long journey of inner and spiritual prosperity..."

...

"I'd bet your wondering how I was able to increase my magical abilities enough to do all the cool stuff like this." The shadow sorceress smirked as she pinched Violet's freckled cheeks.

"Not really, actually..."

"Well-" Magica chuckled.

"-quite simply. I have harnessed the power, of a goddess."

Lifting up the palm of her right, shadowy hand, Magica De Spell immediately brought the dark morning sky outside to a hellish, blood red.

"AAHHH! What is happening?! How could this possibly be any worse?! Louie began to panic after looking out the window.

"Just a quick little appetizer of the upcoming, De Spellageddon! Taste my limitless power, fools! HAAA!"

The sorceress laughed as she cast a powerfull blast of magic at Scrooge McDuck still trapped in Louie's body, transforming the young duck into a girl of the same age.

"...Circe." Scrooge spoke in Louie's new feminine voice, facedown on the floor.

"BINGO!" Magica snapped her fingers without casting a spell.

"Annnnnnnnd I had to ask..." Louie looked forward sadly.

"Wait, why am I so adorable? I would totally go out with myself now."

"Oh okay. Be my guest..." Magica snapped her fingers together again.

"Wait, NOT litera-"

"-lly. Oh boy." Louie finished, lying on the floor in her new gender swapped body as Scrooge McDuck was now back in his own body.

"Ahh, that's more like it." The old duck dusted himself off and stood up, cracking his back.

"...Don't you mean, oh girl?" Dewey asked with a smile spread across Launchpad's face.

"Ugh, Dewford..."

"Cool, I have a younger sister now. And you where right, you were adorable... I'll think I'll call you Louise."

"Ugh! I'll get you for this Magica, I'm never going to hear the end of this." Louise covered her face and longer head feathers with her green hoodie.

"...Well of course you will dear, cause you'll be dead." The shadowy sorceress quickly grabbed Louise by her tail and hung her upside like Violet.

"Say goodbye to Louise and your other little friend, cause this will be the LAST time you'll ever see them alive..."

"You're cute, I think I'll take you too."

"Noooo-oooo-oooo! MOOOOM! UNCLE SCROOGE! UNCLE DONALD! DON'T LET HER TAKE ME! MY TENDER GIRLY EMOTIONS CAN'T TAKE IT!"

"LOUISE- I mean Louie, NOOOO!" Della began to panic.

"Drama queen..." Violet refused to struggle.

"...Alright De Spell!" Scrooge swung his cane forwards and aimed it at Magica.

"No time for alliterations! Drop the lasses and fight like a MAN! Unless you're afraid to face me alone!"

"It feels good to be BACK..."

"...If I'm, afraid?" The sorceress snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting Violet and Louise unharmed on the floor, now locked closely together with mystical black handcuffs.

"Oh, noooo... Not this. Why? WHY-"

"-Suck it up. I will not be tied down by a mere crybaby!" The hummingbird tackled Louise underneath her.

"Tough-ER, than the tough-IES are we? Okay. Heh-heh. Ah-Ha-HA-HA!"

Magica laughed as she quickly merged her shadow form down into Lena's eyes and mouth like pitch black water going down a drain, leaving the teen laying still on the floor afterwards.

"...Everyone, get BACK NOW!" Scrooge turned around to warn his family, before Lena jumped up with her eyes still closed.

Walking forward slowly with no clear expression on her face, the teen lightly snapped her fingers together, summoning a short black cane similar to Scrooge's in her hand.

"Well, since it's true, I'm truly worthless monster, I might as let Magica use me for one final purpose..."

"Besides obviously, just a living cassette player holder." The teen spoke in her regular moody tone of voice.

"...Scroogey." She finally popped open her eyes, to reveal Magica's familiar, yellow snake slit pupils.

"Bless me bagpipes..."

"If you win, I'll leave these two behind and just get back to torturing that fool Webby." Magica now spoke in her normal, booming voice.

"...But if I win, I'll be taking these two beautiful girls along with me, while also taking your precious Number One Dime."

"Do we have a deal?" She held out an open hand.

"Noooooooo! Uncle Scrooge you can't trust her! And am I really that beautiful?" Louise questioned.

"I promise. And a promise between most hated enemies, can always be trusted..."

"Deal?"

"...Deal." Scrooge shook Lena's hand firmly, instantly summoning a tall, magical ring of fire around them.

"Scroog- Ow, ow. Fire hot, fire hot." Penumbra quickly backed away from the flames.

"Now, first to get the tip of their cane to their opponent's chest, is the winner. Ready Scroogey?" Magica aimed her cane at her long-time rival.

"...You bet your hexes I am."

"En, garde!" Scrooge and Magica immediately began violently swiping at each other with their canes.

"So, I'd bet your wondering how that brat Lena was able to spy on you so many years ago, your most prized possession having to be in her presence and all."

"NO!" Scrooge paused and blocked the sorceress' attack with his cane.

"...Okay, maybe a little."

"Think hard Scroogey, search yourself. Who could possibly be willing to always backstab you, yet you still love each other, so very, very much?"

"...Wait, Goldie? She was my most prized possession?!"

"Yes, obviously you lethargic fool!" Magica replied as she swung at the old duck's face.

"Don't you just love the cruel irony of it all Scroogey? The richest duck in the world, was in love with a simple, skanky little sneak thief. HA!"

"Wahh! You are aware that Circe betrayed you too, right?" Scrooge asked as he quickly backed safely away from the sorceress.

"...I'm sorry, what?" Magica paused in sudden confusion.

"She- She never did that..."

"Yep, yep she did. Reduced you to ash..." Louise confirmed for her with a nod.

"...No, NO!" The sorceress held Lena's head in her hands in pain.

"THAT, NEVER, HAPPENED! HAAA!" She swung wildly at Scrooge's cane one final time, finally knocking it out of his hand and far out of the ring of fire."

...

"Oh no." Louise froze in dread.

"Oh yes." Magica slowly approached Scrooge and snapped the fire around them out.

"Oh NO!" Louise repeated herself loudly.

"Oh, yes." Magica lightly touched the tip of her cane to her greatest enemy's chest and snatched up his Number One Dime from around his neck.

"I win..."

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Louise cried out as Violet only covered her face in embarrassment for her friend.

"UHH! UNCLE SCROOGE! MOM PLEAS-"

"-Shut up!" The sorceress still possessing Lena slapped the transformed duckling across her face.

"LOUIE NOOOO!" Della still trapped in her brother's body was held back her Uncle Scrooge.

"Sorry lass, I made a deal with Magica."

"She's grown too powerful now, we can't fight against her. And she would have just taken him hostage otherwise..."

"UHH, NOOOOO! What are you going to do to ME?!" Louise cried as Magica pulled her closer, dragging Violet along with her.

"...Hey, you wouldn't want me to ruin the surprise would you?"

"New 'precious'..." The sorceress smirked devilishly behind Lena's cold face.

"...I- I don't know what that is, but I know for a fact that it doesn't sound good." Louise trembled.

"Think this is bad Scroogey? HA! You haven't even seen the worst of it..." Magica turned back to face the old duck and the rest of his family.

"Soon, your friends and family will all be slaughtered! Then the gods in the heavens above will be cast down and forgotten! Then Magica De Spell, The Sorceress of the Shadows, will RULE THE WORLD!"

"Annnnnnnnd, here comes the maniacal laugh..." Scrooge let his arms go limp.

"Ahhh ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"Ooooh! That felt GREAT. I think I'll do it again..." Magica quickly cleared Lena's throat, dispite still laughing in her own voice.

"Ready? AH-HA! HA-HA! AHHH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" The shadowy sorceress continued to laugh loudy as Violet and Louise simlpy covered their ears and Lena's amulet began to glow bright purple inside her chest.

"Sorry, I get carried away..."

"Ciao fools." Magica snapped her fingers.

...

"Wait what?"

Snap! She snapped her fingers together again. Nothing happened.

"WHAT?!"

Snap! Snap! Snap! The snap-happy sorceress continued to snap angrily about as the sky outside gradually began to fade back to a normal early morning color.

"Uhh, guys? I think Magica's powers pooped out..." Louise walked up to Magica and lightly slapped her on the back.

"OW! You rotten little BRAT! I'll annihilate you, dress you in spandex, and hang you out to dry over the firey depths of Mount Vesuvius!"

"...Then do it. Eh, knock yourself out." The duckling gave the sorceress a mischievous mocking smile and stood only inches in front of her, waiting for her to do something.

"Yep, her powers are all gone..."

"Wait, she can actually feel through Lena's body like this? Fascinating. Tell me does this hurt?" Violet lightly slapped Lena twice across the face.

"OW, OW! You other rotten little BRAT! I'll annihilate you both!"

"And dress me in spandex and hang me out to dry over the firey depths of Mount Vesuvius?" The young hummingbird asked with little to no emotion on her face.

"...No- No, I'll, I'll just hurt you real bad."

"And so what if I can't cast my magic through this worthless fool's body anymore, fine then! I'll just- Uuuuughh!" Magica attempted to tear herself free out of Lena's body, but found herself being held back by a unseen, powerful force.

"...What the- Wait WHAT?! WHHAAAAAAAT?! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO- WHAT?!"

"I- I CAN'T- WHY CAN'T I- RrrrrrrAAGGGHHHHHH!" She screamed skywards up towards the roof.

"It's Lena! She must be holding back Magica and her powers with her amulet... That's my big sister!" Violet ran up and hugged the teen closely.

"HA-HA! Way to go lass! Somebody get some rope, now we've got her!" Scrooge McDuck walked up and held Lena's arms tightly behind her back.

"NO! NO! NO! I can't be... I won't be... defeated, by... AAAAAAAAAHHH!" The sorceress screamed as she seemed to just disappear down into the teenager's body, quickly returning her eyes back to how they originally looked.

"...S-Scrooge!" Lena suddenly sat up and began panting heavily, speaking with her own voice now.

"I-I did it! Aunt Magica is-"

"-HOLD IT!" Scrooge McDuck pulled out his cane and held it up to the teenager.

"...Don't you mean, Uncle Scrooge?"

"Uhhh." Lena paused.

"Uncle Scrooge, it's- it's really me, Lena."

"I- I somehow trapped Magica inside myself. She's gone! Gone forever! I'm- I'm finally free-" The teenager was interrupted as Scrooge held her down on to floor.

"Uncle Scrooge?! What are you doing?! That's Lena!" Huey ran up in shock.

"Get back lad! I'm not so sure about that yet..."

"U-Uncle Scrooge please! This hurts! I'm not Magica, I'm Lena!"

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you lass, but I know it's what you truly want..."

"If you're truly who you say you are-" Scrooge slammed his cane upright on the floor.

"-Prove it!"

...

"Uh, okay. So uh, what do you wanna know abou-" Lena was promptly interrupted by Scrooge holding her bill shut.

"-Oh no! You've been spying on all of us for years. You're bound to know about ANYTHING I ask..."

"No more tricks De Spell! How about instead of proving why you're Lena, how about proving why you're NOT MAGICA?"

Lena stayed completely slilet as heavy drops of sweat poured down her head.

"And, there's only way for sure to see who you truly are. How about proving you're Lena by doing something that Magica would NEVER, EVER, NEVER DO?!"

Scrooge stepped back with wide open arms and a smile.

"Give me a hug..."

The entire room fell silent as the shadowy teenager ran up to her uncle and gave him a tight hug with a smile of her own.

"...You stalled for a second, you're Magica."

"WHAT?!"

Not wasting anytime, Scrooge immediately put Lena into a headlock and threw her to the floor.

"Uh, does only a couple seconds prove that it's not actually Lena?" Huey asked.

"...Not really. I saw her eyes flash back to Magica's real quick before she hugged me back there."

"NO! YOU- YOU FOOLS! You can't keep me in here! You'll all DIE! I'll KILL ALL OF YOU FOR THIS! YOU'll ALL DIIIIIIIE!" The sorceress threatened loudly in her real again voice.

"I don't think you will De Spell, as that kinda goes against your whole blood fued revenge plot thing you've got going on..." Scrooge pointed out.

"...If- If you don't release me this very instant you worthless FOOL, I'll KILL everyone in this room, RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!"

"Oh, come on now De Spell, you know your threats are all just meaningless now. How do you suppose you're going to pull that off?"

"What? Do you intend on just hating us all to death?"

Magica paused.

"...I wasn't talking to YOU, worthless fool. I was talking to the other, little, worthless fool." The sorceress barely lifted her right hand upwards.

"Wait, do you mean Len- AAHHH!" Huey was interrupted as Mrs. Beakley's large, muscular shadow almost instantly came to life and began choking him.

"NOOOOOO! My own shadow betrays me! Will this Earth madness ever end?!" Penumbra tried to fight back as her own shadow also started to quickly overpower her.

"Well, how about it?" Magica stood up in Lena's body and smirked as everyone in the room except her was being slowly choked to death by their own shadows.

"Release me now, or else they'll all DIE, right in front of your FACE!"

"Lena NO! Don't listen to her! You know she won't kill us! We can handle these, salacious shado- Aaugh!" Scrooge was thrown against the wall as his own shadow held him off the floor by his neck.

"Well, I'm waiting, make your decision..." The sorceress stood still patiently as Lena was screaming and panicking on the inside, her voice completely drowned out by Magica's wet shadows lodged deep in her throat.

...

SLAM! The door to the room was suddenly kicked wide open.

"Mr. McDuck? We've got a HUUUUGE problem..." Gyro and Fenton casually rode into the chaotic room on the back of a brown horse with Scrooge McDuck's head placed on it's neck.

"GYRO!" Everyone but Lena and Penumbra exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait, who?" The sorceress questioned.

"Wait, excuse me..." Gyro slowly readjusted his glasses and blinked several times in the early morning light.

"...Waaah-aaaah-aaaah-AAAAH!" Scrooge's head scientist fell backwards onto his intern.

"Manny, Manny! Back up, back up!"

"No room to turn!" Manny barely managed to clap with Gyro still on his back

"Blathering blatherskite! Shadow demons!" Fenton jumped off the horse's back and turned off the light switch, significantly weakening all the rogue shadows in the room.

"WHAT?! NO! NO!" Magica tried to help up one of the slowly dying shadows on the floor.

"It slowed them all down, but it's still not enough! Dr. Gearloose, what do we do-" Fenton was interrupted by several blue blasts of light being shot past him and at all the shadows in the room, quickly returning them back to their hosts.

"The Gearloose Shadow Control Ray." Gyro put away his ray gun back underneath his hat.

"Because you never know, when the sleep paralysis demons will come out of the shadows and strike..."

"In your sleep?" Manny clapped.

"...What the hell is that horrible creature? It's hideous!" The sorceress stepped back in disgust after getting a good look at the horse in the room with her.

"What?" Manny clapped.

"Well, that's not very polite." Gyro turned to Fenton and back to Magica.

"It's just my dummy intern..."

"What?" Fenton questioned.

"What?" Magica questioned along with him.

"Indeed." Manny clapped.

"...Wait, we arrived just in the nick of time to save people in need. That makes the three of us, big dang heroes! YES!" Fenton hugged his tall fellow scientist.

"Ugh! It's 'Big Damn Heroes' dummy!" Gyro rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

"Dr. Gearloose please." Fenton walked up to Lena and covered her ears with a soft hug.

"Not in front of the kids..."

Without saying a word, Magica quickly wriggled away from the latin duck and made a dash for the wide open door.

"STOP HER! That's not a kid, that's Magica De Spell! We can't let her escape! AFTER HER!" Scrooge ordered.

* * *

"Uhh! Where's the kitchen, where's the kitchen?! Need a knife, need a knife!" The sorceress quickly found herself in Scrooge McDuck's mansion foyer, not sure which way to go.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not this time..." The ghost of Duckworth floated out of a picture hanging on the wall and quickly grabbed Lena by her striped sweater.

"NO! You old dead FOOL! I'll rake you across the coals!" Magica threatened as the ghost summoned a piece of rope and began to tie Lena's hands together behind her back.

"Wait, rope? Yes, PERFECT! I'll just hang myself instea- Ahhh, NO! Too tight!"

"...Now I know how Webby feels."

"Good. Now hold still..." Duckworth held Lena on the floor and tightly tied her feet together.

"Ahhh! NO, NO NO NO NO NO! NO!" Magica struggled desperately about as everyone else in the mansion made it into the large room.

"A triple fed constrictor knot. Great job Duckworth!" Huey inspected Magica's knots and lifted her up.

"Learned from the best." The butler gave him a thumbs up.

"WOO! Duckworth! That's how you Dewey-it!" Dewey cheered him on.

"Wait. Where were you this whole time?!" Louise asked in anger.

"We almost all died like three times in there!"

"...Dusting." Duckworth simply answered.

"You need to get your priorities straight man! Wait, NO! If Magica's powers are all gone... Then- Then how long will I be handcuffed to HER?!"

"...I'd say it's you who needs to get their priorities straight, Mistress Louie..." The ghost patted Louise on the head.

"Uhhhhh. Just- Just don't ask..."

"Hold on, how come your voice is deeper now then when you were a boy? And what is really that bad about being handcuffed to a girl?" Violet asked the young duck beside her.

"Uhhh. Please, not now Vi, I've got a headache the size of three cubic acres of cash."

...

"So. As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted." Gyro cleared his scratchy throat.

"Mr. McDuck, we've got a HUUUUGE problem..."

"...How huge? Huge the size of evil robots exterminating all life on Earth? Or huge the size of literally the end of the world as we know it?" Scrooge asked.

"Somewhere in between those two futures, the Gizmosuit is missing..." Gyro paused.

"...Oh, and Gizmodummy here says he has no memory of ever putting on the suit. And the tracking device on it isn't working."

"He keeps saying that I'm Gizmoduck, but I'm not, I'm just an intern. A poor scientist. I'm- I'm no hero." Fenton looked a little sad.

"Wait, what? Does the lad actually not remember the entire past year and a half?" Scrooge was puzzled.

"Well, it sure seems that way. And I have a theory on what happened. The ONLY possible explanation..."

"...Emiiill." Lighting crashed close outside for dramatic effect.

"I'm sorry, who?" Scrooge was now even more puzzled.

"You honestly don't remember? Ughhh..."

"Emil Eagle? Evil scientist, my arch enemy and overall petty thief? You and me, we sent him to prison over two decades ago..."

"...Unless they're family, or my own sworn enemies, I really don't focus too hard on remembering people's names." Scrooge said.

"Either way, a report came out that he escaped for prison early this morning." Gyro continued.

"It's OBVIOUS! Emil broke out this morning, drugged Fenton, and-"

"-even though, that the suit went missing, only a few days ago... So he'd have to..." Scrooge's head scientist was interrupted by Magica's soft chuckle as she laid flat in Lena's body on the floor.

"What's so funny De Spell?" Scrooge held his came to her face.

"You ignorant fools. Can't you see? That Emil fool didn't steal your precious Gizmosuit." The sorceress smiled.

"...I did."

"Whhhaat?! You did?!" Gyro grabbed Lena by her sweater and held her up to his face.

"Yep. That latin fool over there showed up at my lair, so I simply wiped his mind clean and sent him on his way..."

"TELL ME WHERE IT IS!" The angry scientist shook Magica about in his arms.

"Sorry. Both your Gizmosuit and your little Webby are locked up tight in a place where you'll never find them. A place, where you'll never guess to look, no matter how long you search. A place-"

"-RrrrrrrAAAAAHHH!"

"Gyro, Gyro. Don't hurt the lass. She didn't do anything wrong." Scrooge held back Gyro as he tried to violently attack Magica in Lena's body.

"UHHH! We don't have time for this! We have to get the Gizmosuit back before it falls into the wrong hands!"

...

"Ding!" An imaginary Lil' Bulb appeared over Louise's head.

"Wait, you were a little girl this whole time?" Gyro questioned.

"Ugh! No." The young duck replied as she struggled to climb up on Manny's back and stood up.

"I've got it! I know how we can rescue Webby, AND get the Gizmosuit back at the same TIME!"

"...Okay, speak up lad, er lass." Scrooge quickly corrected himself.

"Shhh! Thank you." Louise continued and cleared her throat.

"We use Gyro's Time Tub to travel back to the day the Gizmosuit was stolen and secretly follow Fenton untill he comes across Magica's lair."

"But instead of effecting the time stream by keeping the suit from being stolen in the first place, we then travel back to the present and get both Webby and the suit back after learning where Magica's lair is, when she won't be there to attack us!"

"...That is, actually a really good idea! Great thinking lass!" Scrooge McDuck walked up and ruffled his niece's feathers.

"Well what did you expect? She is my daughter after all! Ha-ha!" Della lifted Louise up in her arms and hugged her.

"NO! NO! NO!" THIS- THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Magica in Lena's body struggled fiercely on the floor, trying her best to untie herself.

"Eeeexcept for one little problem, the Time Tub's out of commission..." Gyro explained sternly.

"...YES! YES! Ha-ha! Take that FOOLS! Even fate is on my SIDE!" The sorceress laughed as her arms were beginning to cramp underneath her.

"Well, just- just fix it then! Build a replacement! You're the brilliant scientist, you think of something! That's your job man!" Louise began pushing Scrooge's head scientist towards the front door.

"Well De Spell? I think this is where it all ends." Scrooge McDuck began as he sat Magica upwards.

"Isn't it ironic? Your need to gloat, along with the person you continuously called worthless and insignificant, was the one who ultimately brought you down to nothing but a shadow trapped within your own rebellious creation."

He took back his Number One Dime from around Lena's neck with a smile.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen..."

...

"-AAAAH-AAUUH-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGHH!" The sorceress paused before letting out a skyward bloodcurdling scream in Lena's voice and began choking up dark shadows from her mouth.

"I was so CLOSE. This is all your fault! ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

Magica began violently slamming her head down onto the hardwood floor, letting her tears completely soak Lena's face and sweater.

"I never should have brought you to LIFE! You are nothing! NOTHING!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy now." Scrooge quickly held the struggling sorceress still.

"C-C-Curse you, Lena Sabrewing..." The teenager fell motionless to the floor.

"...I've never wanted to both punch and hug a child more than I do right now." Penumbra began.

"I know I've always come across sounding like I hate children. But I actually love them very much."

"They are like crazy, drunken, small people in your crater. But I still love them. And this one desperately needs a hug..."

The moonlander lifted Lena up in her arms and held her closely with tears in her eyes

"I'm- I'm so proud of you."

"...See that kids? Those are the tears of an officially defrosted moon bestie." Della smiled.

Gently lying Lena on her back on the floor, Penumbra silently walked up to Gyro, Fenton, and Manny.

"I'm going with you..."

"Uh, ha-ha-ha-ha-no." Gyro frowned.

"You are not coming with us, and that is final, end of conversation, goodbye!"

"Wait, WHY NOT?! The moonlander yelled in sudden confusion and anger.

"Because I don't like you, that's it."

"WHY NOT?! That's the most stupidest Earth reason I've ever HEARD!"

"It's good enough for me, and you're not going..."

"YES I AM!" Penumbra slowly followed Gyro, Fenton, and Manny out of the mansion.

"She's definitely going." Manny clapped.

"No you're not."

"YES I AM!"

"No you're not."

"YES I AM!"

"No you're not."

"AM!"

"Not."

"AM!"

"Not."

"AM!"

"Not."

SLAM! Manny shut the door behind them.

...

"So, uh, what do we do now?" Dewey asked.

"What else?" Scrooge McDuck lifted the still motionless teenager to her feet.

"Take care of Lena..."

"Wait, what do you mean, take care of Lena?" Huey asked as well.

"Exactly what I said, take care of Lena."

"Feed her, brush her teeth, put her to bed, keep her entertained."

"We can't untie her, not for a second! There's no telling what that witch would do to her if she had the chance."

"We'll have to do, everything for her."

"E-E-Everything?" Dewey questioned with wide eyes.

"...Everything." Scrooge darkly replied.

"Welp, I'm a girl. Guess I'm on Lena duty- HEY!" Louise was quickly yanked aside by Violet.

"Are you crazy? I'm her sister! I will take care of her!"

"Yeah, but I'm still handcuffed to you. And unless you have another magic potion or something, I'll have to go wherever you go..."

"And again, the discomforting feeling, spreads throughout my body." The hummingbird spoke in clear monotone.

"...Man, poor Lena." Dewey put his hand to Launchpad's bill.

"What do you mean, poor Lena? POOR WEBBY!" Huey exclaimed.

"Circe and Magica tricked her into believing that Lena betrayed her, and that they were never actually real friends. She must be crushed."

"Hey, this is Webby we're talking about here. If I know her, which I do. She'll be back to normal and we'll be going on new adventures in no time!"

"Ugh. Dewey, it's more than that. She's been tortured. Tortured!"

"Are you aware of the long lasting effects something like that could have on a person?!"

"She might may have to go to a therapist for years!"

"Oh, c'mon Huey. Therapy? Webby would never agree to-"

"-No, your brother's right." Scrooge intervened.

"Webbigail will need all of our help to get her life back to normal after this. We can't treat this lightly!"

"...And I'm afraid there may be no way to reverse some of the negative effects that witch may have cursed her to live with for the rest of her life."

"We can never allow Magica to roam free, ever again..."

* * *

...

"What's going on? What kind of moron thinks they can kidnap Duckburg's greatest super villain, inventer, and all around, misunderstood genius?! A short white eagle wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and a dark blindfold over his eyes struggled about blindly to a chair he was barely even tied to.

After only a few seconds, his blindfold was pulled off, revealing three familiar figures standing closely in front of him. Two of them were smiling, and one of them was busy typing away on his smartphone.

"Uuuuh! Dr. Atmoz Fear!? Ammonia Pine?!" He stared in surprise at the two criminals, taking notice of the other figure behind them.

"...Mark Beaks?"

"Kidnap selfie!" The billionaire ran up and snapped a picture of them all together.

"Hey, so do you think hashtag 'living on the edge' is putting it a bit too bluntly?"

"You FOOL! Don't post that! We're on the lam!" The weather-based scientist tried to pull his phone away from him.

"So um okay? I'm Mark Beaks, Duckburg billionaire. So yeah, I can do whatever I want, without any repercussions..."

"Okay then. How's THIS for repercussions?!" Atmoz Fear jumped onto Beaks and wrestled him to the floor.

"Ahhh-ahhh-AHHH! THIS IS MY LAST PHONE! SPARE IT'S LIFE!" The two of them continued to struggle on the floor.

"...So uh. Can someone please explain why I am here-" Emil was interrupted as Ammonia Pine quickly brought a soapy, wet mop to his face.

"EWW! Your feathers are dirty! DISGUSTING!" The insane, cleaning obsessed F.O.W.L. agent complained as she cleaned off his slightly sweaty face.

"Wha-Wha-WHAT?! WHAT IS GOING ON-" CRACK! A rolled up newspaper hit the open doorframe with the speed and strength of a whip.

"EVERYONE! Settle down..." Ma Beagle now stood motionlessly in the empty dark warehouse room, with Big Time, Burger, Bouncer, and Black Arts standing terrified behind her.

With a very intimidating expression on her face, the current head of the Beagle family walked up to Emil and grabbed him by his jumpsuit collar

"...Morning jailbird. Did you enjoy your short little time in the slammer?"

"EX-CUUUSSE, ME!" Emil began loudly, trying to look as big and threatening as possible.

"Twenty hard years behind steel bars and brick is hardly what I would call a short time- AHHH!" CRACK! Ma Beagle slapped him across the face with her newspaper.

"-Hmmm, mmmm. And who is responsible for putting you in there, sunshine?" She asked, dispite knowing the answer.

"...My enteral arch-nemesis, Dr. Gyro Gearloose." The short super villain glared in deep-rooted anger.

"Oh, and also Scrooge McDuck. Him too..."

"Okay then, tell me. Have you seen..." Ma Beagle paused as she unrolled the newspaper and looked it over in disbelief.

"UGH! Where is that article?! Is this even the same newspaper?!"

"No Ma. We used that one for Mud Puddle..." Big Time explained.

"...Who's Mud Puddle?" She asked.

"Our new puppy we found lost in the rain. Can we keep him?" Bouncer asked with a hopeful smile.

...

"Beaks, get me a picture..." Ma Beagle ordered while holding out her hand behind her.

"Oh, heh-heh. Sure." Beaks handed her his phone after swiping to a certain saved imaged.

"...Beaks? What the heck am I looking at?" Ma Beagle asked in anger and disgust upon seeing the illuminated picture in front of her face.

"Oh, just something I found on the cursed image section of-"

"-UGH! For cryin' out, NEVERMIND!"

"Wait, now I'm curious. What does it look like-" CRACK! Emil was hit in the face with the now re-rolled up newspaper.

"-GIZMODUCK! I'm sure you've heard of Gizoduck, right?"

"...Gizmo-DUCK?" The super villain began.

"Well of COURSE I've heard about gizmo-DUCK. Oh, how I can't wait to meet him. Our battle will be legendary..."

"Well, what if I told you your old friend Gyro is the one who built the gizmo armor?" Ma Beagle continued.

"...WHAATT?! Gyro Gearloose is Gizmoduck?! But- But he's not even a DUCK."

"No. He isn't..."

"But some crack-head latin intern of his is though." Ma Beagle explained.

"But the armor was stolen just a couple of days ago. And I know where it is..."

"Hold on, YOU DO?" Emil asked in shock.

"Why, with that armor, I could bring Gyro Gearloose and the entirety of Duckburg to it's knees in minutes! Seconds EVEN!"

"...Good."

"You wanna know where it is?" Ma Beagle asked.

"YES!"

"You wanna to get your hands on it?"

"YES!"

"You wanna get your revenge against Gyro and McDuck?"

"YES- Well no. Just Gyro. Hmph, McDuck means nothing to me..."

"Well-" Ma Beagle grabbed him by his collar and pulled him close to her face.

"-you'll work for me then..."

"HEY! Don't you know who your messing with?!"

"I'm Emil Eagle! You can't force me to work with you! You can't force me to do ANYTHING!"

"...I'm forcing you to sit in this chair." Ma Beagle tapped him on his beak.

"My HANDS are tied!"

"Okay then. You don't want to work for me? Fine..."

"I'll just kidnap someone better. Someone with skills more suited to taking down Gyro Gearloose."

Emil gasped.

"...Don't, you, DARE."

"Gyro Screw-loose is my arch-nemesis! Nobody is allowed to defeat him except me! NOBODY! The eagle fought hard against the ropes around him.

"I'm, IN."

"...Ain't villainous teamwork the best?" Ma Beagle finally cracked a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF PART 1
> 
> Special thanks to TheMysteriousMrEnter for inspiring Scrooge McDuck's disposition speech against Magica.


	16. The Reptilian Revival of Randy Moorhen!

After finishing setting up his old but dependable hammock between two sturdy trees in his Uncle Scrooge's frontyard, Donald Fauntleroy Duck let out a long tired yawn and stretched out his sister's arms in the air.

Since it was an unusually warm and sunny Wednesday afternoon for this time of the year, and that Webby was seemingly just as good as rescued with Magica De Spell now unable to harm her anymore, he figured this was the perfect time to lay back and rest his sister's head for a while. Stepping into the soft fabric sling with Della's prosthetic leg, he laid back and closed her eyes.

It all felt so bizarre to him. Although he was still the same hot-blooded thirty-seven year old uncle Donald on the inside, on the outside, he was now the firey amputee, fish hating adventurer known as Della Duck.

For starters, only having feelings in one of his legs now led to him overcompensating his steps and occasionally making him trip over himself while walking, ending up with him falling flat on his sister's face.

And on the more uncomfortable side of things, besides losing both of his legs and his particularly distinctive scratchy voice, he had obviously lost all the rest of himself and ended up stuffed into his twin sister's unfamiliar body.

It was gross, awkward, and a invasion of privacy for the both of them, but it was just his luck. And his Uncle Scrooge and Webby's close friend Violet Sabrewing were seemingly the only ones lucky enough so far to be returned back to their original bodies.

Separate from everyone else underneath the same curse, Della's youngest son Louie Duck, even though he did get returned back to his body before Magica had lost her powers, the shadow sorceress had magically turned him into a girl and intended to kidnap him along with Lena and Violet.

Even though Donald wanted very much to unleash his full fury against Magica and jump on top of her for threatening his friends and family, outright attacking the sorceress at the time would only have hurt Webby's other close friend Lena at the same time, and he was able to control his temper enough not to harm only a young teenager.

There was something about kids being hurt or in danger that really infuriated the duck, something deep inside him that he couldn't even fully explain for himself.

He had guessed that being so overprotective over Huey, Dewey, and Louie for over ten years had driven him into a state of protection paranoia, but it was way more than just that. His subconscious saw his very unlucky, unfortunate, younger self in place of kids whenever they were hurt, upset, or in danger.

Sometimes, it seemed like the entirety of the world and everyone in it was just out to get him, kind of like he was a universal butt-monkey. The god's chew toy.

Donald tossed back and forth uncomfortably in the hammock as his thoughts kept him from resting. Hardly anything ever went right with him, and he couldn't relax, as he could only think about Bentina Beakley's only granddaughter, Webbigail Vanderquack.

Did he really consider her to be family? His Uncle Scrooge definitely did, along with his young nephews.

And although he really didn't say anything about, the subject Lena had constantly told them all about as she spied through her eyes was enough to make him sick to his sister's stomach. Torture.

Donald had never really had been actually tortured before. He had been injured, panicked and lost of out of his mind, put through mild circles of hell and back, but not outright tortured before. And there was no way he was going to act like his close to four decades now of almost constant misfortune and misery were even close to being worse than the five days of what Webby had to go through.

It was only five days, only shortly less than a week, but those five days in Magica De Spell's care had felt like five WEEKS to her. Five long weeks of defilement and relentless abuse against only an eleven year old, magically regressed back to four.

The sorceress' actions against her, while childish and absolutely ridiculous at times, were still more than affective enough to cause severe damage to both the young duckling's physical and mental well-being.

Webby was definitely overly skilled for her age, and a freakishly strong force to be reckoned with, but she was far from invincible. And being so young and mostly helpless now was enough to keep her barely underneath Magica's grim control.

Donald couldn't really grasp what Webby could have possibly done to the sorceress to seemingly deserve all of this, as he still hadn't been told the full story yet. Several months ago, Magica was so close to getting her old powers back from Lena. So close.

Her continuously attacking and gaslighting the shadow teen in her mind had eventually convinced her that nothing good would ever come from herself, and that she was nothing more than a monster. And the sorceress couldn't be more pleased.

But right before she could take Lena's hand and continue her attack against Clan McDuck, Webby intervened, brought her best friend back to her senses, and was ultimately responsible for Magica's defeat. And that was the moment that sealed her fate.

Maybe he really did consider Webbigail a part of his family. At least, at a subconscious level.

During the climax of The Shadow War, Huey, Dewey, Louie and her ended up being cornered by a small part Magica's shadow forces up in his Uncle Scrooge's office, but he quickly came to their aid.

"Get away from my kids!" It didn't come out in his voice, but he still said it, did he just let it slip out? Donald turned red and burned in silent anger as he tried to forget everything Magica had cruelly and unfairly done to Webby, but at least she couldn't hurt her anymore.

She was now being held prisoner in Lena's body by Lena herself, as Violet and Louie had taken her back to her house to watch over and care for her. And despite the sorceress being fully in control of the teenager's body, Lena was still able to hold her and her magic back enough to keep her completely harmless. Unless she could somehow escape from the two kids and hurt the teenager enough to force her to release her shadow form from within herself.

DONALD! DONALD? DONAL-

Although it was quite embarrassing for her to constantly be watched after and taken cared of, as she constantly had to be restrained to keep Magica from harming or outright killing her through self-harm, Lena knew it was the only way it to keep her aunt from hurting and tormenting her young friend anymore. And of course, Magica was far from pleased. She was furious.

The sorceress' calling down of endless dark curses and hexes upon the shadow teen while screaming all kinds of vile profanities and blasphemies in her voice had gotten so bad, Violet and Louie were forced to tightly shut her bill with tape to keep her quiet, much to Lena's relief.

Magica just couldn't understand why her all-powerful ally Circe hadn't come to rescue her yet. She remembered that Scrooge had said something about the goddess betraying her and reducing her to ash, but did that really happen?

Was Circe, really just using her, like a puppet to further her own plans? She didn't know for sure.

All that she knew for sure was that after she had freed herself from her niece's slowly weakening body, she was going take her and Violet Sabrewing back to her lair, while also handing Louie over to one of her allies like she had promised.

DONALD! UNCLE DONALD?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!

Magica's next plan of revenge was busy cooking in Lena's head, and she had no way of warning her close friends and family about it. Even if she wasn't silenced with tape around her bill, her voice was stil completely blocked out as the shadow sorceress only cursed angrily back at her in her mind.

YOU STUPID, WORTHLESS, HORRIBLE LITTLE BRAT!

They, they didn't deserve it. Despite what my Aunt Magica actually believes.

SHUT UP! YOU'LL REGRET THIS!

YOUR WEBBY AND YOUR FAKE SABREWING SISTER, THEY'LL SUFFER. THEY'LL ALL SUFFER-

DONALD!

-THIS ISN'T THE END, of my DARK reeiiign...

"And I promise, after I'm done with you, I'll break her little mind so badly, she won't even recognize you..." Magica's cold dreamlike voice echoed back from the shadowy corners of Lena's consciousness.

...

Guys! Please hurry up and find Webby already! She's- She's starving!

I felt it!

...

I- I- I can't hold her back forever!

She's still in danger! DONALD PLEASE, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WAKE UP. THEY HAVE HER- DOO-

-Curse...you. CURSE...you. CURSE... YOU...

* * *

...

"UNCLE DONALD!" Donald Duck was immediately frightened awake by his oldest nephew Huey Duck screaming at him in a familiar feminine British voice.

"WAAAHHH!?"

Lifting up his uncle trapped in his mother's body, the young duck continued to breathe heavily through Bentina Beakley's lungs.

"Something- Huuuuhh! Something very very weird is going on! I SENSE IT! WE'RE ALL BEING SPYE-"

"-What in the world is going on here?" Bentina Beakley asked as she walked up to the two of them in Huey's body and paused.

"Huey dear please, we've been over this. You know very well you're not painting me in a very positive light like this. What's going on?"

"...WE'RE ALL BEING SPYED ON!" The frantic Junior Woodchuck screamed with madness in his wild eyes.

"Magica De Spell is under our control now. She's-"

"-No, no, NO! It's more than that!" Huey loudly interrupted before lifting Mrs. Beakley and Donald high off the ground.

"It feels like the universe is falling apart, like the planet itself is spinning out of control! The facts don't match up with reality. Stuff that should be well-known facts are all just lies!"

"My world and everything in it, is DISINTEGRATING!" The young duck stopped to catch his breath.

"It's a threat bigger than Magica De Spell or even General Lunaris could ever BE! It's right underneath our noses, but I can't- I just can't see it..."

A small furry squirrel with a nut in it's mouth quickly ran past the three of them and across the grass covered yard, ending her short journey by climbing up a tall tree close to the mansion.

"Huey please. You've got to get a hold of yourself-"

"-What was that word?" The duckling spoke with an unexplained noticeable panic in his tone.

"Howl?"

"Cowl?"

"Towel?!"

"Jowl?!"

...

"Wait, was it F.O.W.L.?"

As soon as those four horrible letters escaped from Huey's mouth, everything around them grew quiet. The wind refused to blow through the leaves, the clouds high above in the sky stopped dead in their tracks, Mrs. Beakley was left completely speechless, and the squirrel high up in tree froze solid.

The rodent remained perfectly silent as it instantly turned it's head towards the three ducks now decently far away, switching it's eyes from black soulless spheres to empty reptile sockets.

"Ssssssso the dork, knowsssssss..."

* * *

_Life is like a hurricane_

_Here in Duckburg!_

As a polished treasured singular dime flips and falls from the yellow sky above with a shine, Scrooge McDuck waves his cane forwards, signaling his family close behind to follow after him and the ten cents bouncing and then rolling down the pure black curved slope.

First follows Bentina Beakley, then Launchpad McQuack, then Louise, then Donald, then Della. Finally, joining the intrepid group adventures at the end, Violet Apollonia Sabrewing stuffs a small flashlight in her backpack, just barely running ahead of Scrooge McDuck's enemies chasing after them.

_Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes_

_It's a duck-blur!_

In the first panel, Dr. Gyro Gearloose, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, the moonlander warrior known as Penumbra, and Manny the Headless Man-Horse were busy working together on a project with a bright blue background behind them.

In the second panel, the tech billionaire Mark Beaks is driving a very bored and irritated Ma Beagle down on a purple and black grid in a green convertible sports-car.

In the third panel, Dewey Duck sticks two fingers together in the air, before being reminded by Donald Duck that he was still flying a massive cargo plane, quickly failing to take control of it.

_Might solve a mystery_

_Or rewrite history!_

Violet Sabrewing holds a bright beam of a light against cracked yellow brick wall and past Bentina Beakley holding the trusty Junior Woodchuck guidebook in her hands.

Scrooge's Number One Dime falls through the circle of light against the wall and out of sight, giving a dark demon with horns and red eyes the change the emerge out of the shadows and cower over then, scaring away Launcpad and Louise while Violet only holds a purple glowing mace up to the ghastly beast.

_DuckTales! Woo-o..._

The scene immediately shifts from a proud smiling shadowy Lena Sabrewing holding a heavily beaten and bruised young Webby Vanderquack on the floor with her right webbed foot flat on her back, to the image of a black globe with four sharp talons griping it firmly above, holding it tightly in control and underneath it's grasp.

"This is F.O.W.L.! We DON'T, PLAY, theme songs here!"

A darkened bespectacled buzzard turns away and points a remote control forward, bringing everything to a bold, red and black message.

**The Baleful Bewitching of Webby Vanderquack! - PART 2**

* * *

...

"Scheme detected! Scheme detected!" A recently repaired security droid alerted loudy as it hovered besides a high up tree branch.

"...What's up with the DT-87?" Huey asked as he and Mrs. Beakley ran up to the tree were the robot was staring forward, there was only a large pine cone in it.

"But there's, there's nothing up ther-"

"-Huh? It must still be broken." Mrs. Beakley let herself relax.

"No, NO! Even the machines know something weird is going on! WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"

"Huey? Did Mr. McDuck tell about something about-"

"-A singular, PINE CONE, lodged perfectly upright, in a TREE?" The young duck laughed nervously as he finished interrupting.

"If THAT'S not suspicious-"

"-It's JUST, a pine cone." Mrs. Beakley explained as she tried to pull Huey backwards.

"But that isn't even a PINE TREE!"

...

"...Okay, I'll admit it, that is a bit strange. But that doesn't mean the world and everything in it is ending."

"Fine! Do WHATEVER you want." Huey said as he pushed past Webby's grandmother and began to march away.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I'm the responsible, coffee drinking adult, and your just the short, temperamental, little, child..."

"...I don't drink coffee, but I have been known as quite a tea addict..." Mrs. Beakley quickly followed the young duck trapped in her body.

"You're able to do more when you're not clouded with wasted anxiety. And you're not that temperamental."

"HA!" Huey laughed.

"Uncle Donald put me in dance classes when I was only FIVE YEARS OLD! STOP UNDERESTIMATING ME!"

"When I run in the morning, my body spends the first twenty minutes trying to figure out what's happening to it. But does that stop me? NOOO!"

"Scheme detected! Scheme detected!" The DT-87 quickly flew after Huey, finally ignoring the pine cone still sitting motionless in the tree.

"...Well, at the least the pine cone won't disrupt all of our well beings." Mrs. Beakley sighed.

* * *

...

"F.O.W.L High Command, come in. Do you read me? Come in." A young duck with grey feathers whispered into his phone and held it up to his face, now sitting where the pine cone used to be.

"...Agent Camille! Why have broken contact with us for so long? Agent Pine has already be planted into the Beagle situation. None of McDuck family has seen for a week, we have to keep constant tabs on them!"

"Care to explain yourself?" The head of F.O.W.L. publicly known as Bradford Buzzard banged his fist down on a table and glared forward silently.

"...It- It wasn't my fault Director Buzzard! It was that witch De Spell, it was all her fault!"

"She turned me into that single-form Sabrewing weakling! We're lucky she didn't discover my secr- AAHHH!" The young duck clutched his chest as burning sensation shot throughout him.

"Don't, blame your failure, on our enemies..." The Buzzard released a button he was holding down with his finger.

"Tell me why I shouldn't expose you to the Ducks right now."

"...The- The red one called Huey isssssss onto me, but nobody believes him. So I'll just grab him, take his place, and- AAHHH!"

"The news reports are everywhere! Webbigail Vanderquack, kidnapped. But not by YOU!" A tall heron quickly moved into the frame and shoved her face in the camera.

"Black Heron, stand down!" The buzzard sternly ordered.

"Bring me that child and 22! I want them both, alive..." The heron whispered coldly into the mic.

"Blugh..." The small grey duck began.

"By the way things sssssssound, De Spell has already gotten your sweet revenge against her for you, ssssssshe's been torturing her. Apparently, she has way more enemies than first meets the eye."

"...WHAT?! But- But she needs to be in good condition when I-"

"-We, are, F.O.W.L.!" Bradford Buzzard successfully pushed Black Heron away.

"This isn't about revenge! Complete world larceny and full government control comes first! Wait, where are you?! Are you out in the open?!"

"No, no, nothing like that... I'm in Scrooge McDuck's frontyard." The young duck quickly explained.

"Are you mad?! Get out of there!"

"McDuck is the single greatest threat to our entire organization! Do you have any idea what he's capable of?!" The buzzard asked in anger.

"Jussssssst relaaxxx. Don't forget, I'm Camille Chameleon."

"And now that I have my body baaaacck, I can camouflage into any sssssssituation..."

"Ah, ha, ha, ha-"

"-Scheme detected! Scheme detected!" The DT-87 suddenly reappeared from out of nowhere and hovered right in front of the young duck's face.

"Oh, not you again..."

"Camille! You've blown your cover. Transform and get out of there!" Bradford ordered before cutting all communications to the agent.

"...Fine. I'll just- AAHHH!" The duck immediately fell backwards as the security droid began rapidly blasting at it's target will it's bulit in lasers.

"Scratch the mission, RETREA- AHH!" The F.O.W.L. agent quickly shape-shifted back into a squirrel, somehow hiding her phone inside of her body.

"Scheme detected! Scheme detected!" The DT-87 continued to blast the rodent half to death as it ran for it's life out of the frontyard, finally arousing the curiosity of Scrooge McDuck inside the mansion.

"Hmmmm..." He stared out of the glass window before closing the blinds.

"...Squirrels."


	17. Doctor Gearloose's Time Tub Turnabout!

...

"OHHHHH YEEEEEAAAHHH!"

"COWABUNGA!"

"AWWWWWW MAAANNNNNN!"

Very much disturbing the sunny peace and quiet of Duckburg park, a trio of extreme sports fanatics known as The Longboard Taquitos rode their skateboards down the crowded concrete walkways at dangerously high speeds, stealing everything they could possibly get their hands on as they sped by.

Finally coming to a complete stop inside a secluded empty wooded area, the three Beagle Boys flipped their skateboards into the air and strapped them onto their backs.

"DUUUUUDE! That was like, totally righteous bro!"

"Yeah, I know bro! Are we like, fresh or what?"

"For sure! That was wicked!"

"What you'd get? Like, any dead presidents?"

"...All that, and a bag of chips." One of the Beagle Boys held a up a literal bag of opened barbecue chips.

"SWEEEET! Let's feast to our freshness bros!"

"Yeah! Let's totally!"

"But we'll need more than that for like a feast bro."

"...DUUUUUDE! Like, there's totally this legit vending machine not far from here. Let's grab some more sweet chow, then we feast!

"And pay with the money we stole?" One of them asked.

"Phh! As if!" Another one of them scoffed.

"That's like, totally lame-o bro... We like, smash that baby open and grab all the chow!"

"...And then swipe all the dough inside it!"

"DUUUUUDE! That's like, totally righteous bro!" One of them almost completely repeated himself.

"Bro, for real. You like, kinda already said that."

"...What? That's like, totally bogus br-." The clueless Beagle Boy was suddenly interrupted by what sounded like a familiar little girl screaming and crying out in pain nearby.

"Did you hear that bro? Like, somebody's totally roughing up some poor kid!"

"What do we do bro? Like, call the police?"

"No bro! We like, totally go and help them!"

The two other Beagle Boys paused in disbelief, waiting for their brother to hopefully explain himself.

"...Like, help them rough her up!"

"AWWWWWW DUUUUUDE! Wicked idea!"

"YEAH! Totally righteous bro!"

Quickly spliting apart in random directions, the three Beagles ran off into the overgrown brush after the sound.

"Whoa, it's like, gnarly dark in here bro."

"Yeah, for real. I'm already totally lost bro."

"This is like, totally uncool bro..."

* * *

...

"Uuh! V-Vi! Hold her still! I can't find the butto- Waaahhh! A young duck wearing a light green skirt and hoodie was kicked to the ground from a shoe to her stomach.

"RrraaaawWWRR-"

"-Stop it! No kicking! Stop it!" A grey hummingbird rushed aside and lightly slapped a furious fighting teenager duck twice in the face before stopping and slapping her twice again.

"You hold her, I'll find it!"

"Ughh! This is even worse than Mexican birthday picnic Uncle Donald threw us when we were kids." Louise said as he tightly held Lena still by her wrists.

"I told you this was a bad idea! We should have just left her at home!"

Please!" Violet began as she tried to feel through her sister's body to turn off the shrill screaming coming from inside it.

"Without bad ideas, it would be impossible to recognize the good ones. We have to grow, and learn from our past grave mistakes."

"Yeah, our first mistake, angering a literal dark eldritch human abomination shadow witch enough to want to send us all to our early graves!" Louise gripped the teenager tighter.

"UUHHH-UUUUUHHH! Unhand me NOW YOU WRETCHED, unruly, BRATTY half-pint TAIL-WIPES!"

"RRRAAAAAAAARRRR!" Magica wailed loudy in her own gradually deepening voice, as the hummingbird finally switched off the cassette player.

"...Screw this. I'll get the tap-" Violet paused after seeing Louise already holding up a large roll of tape in her hand.

Slowly unrolling a long strand of the sticky adhesive, the hummingbird emotionlessly wrapped it around her sister's bill, much against the sorceress' wishes.

"Great, and how exactly is she supposed to eat ANYTHING, like that?" Louise questioned.

"...WITH A STRAW." Violet held up a simple white straw in her free hand without even blinking.

Without any sort of prior warning, three radically dressed beagles ran out of the bushes behind them and into the open clearing.

"We came as fast as we could bro! We like, totally heard a little girl screaming... WITH A BRA!"

"Ooooooooh, outrageous bro!"

"Yeah, for sure bro!"

"I'm sorry, WHAT? Who even are YOU?" The hummingbird asked now in great concern.

"Uhhuuh!" Louise gasped as quietly as she could.

"The Beagle Boys-"

"-Stay calm. We'll just, politely, yet sneakily, talk our way out of this." Violet whispered.

"...Hey! That's, MY THING!" Louise whispered as she pulled her back by her wrist.

"Say uh, why do you like, totally look familiar?" One of the beagles asked while scratching his head intently.

Standing completely still close together in silence with the their long sleeves connected together with tape and covering their opposite wrists, a grey hummingbird and a young girl duck all dressed in green tried to hide a struggling and grumpy teenager behind them on a picnic blanket.

She was wearing long clothes that perfectly covered her ankles and wrists behind her back, along with dark sunglasses over her eyes and tape around her bill.

"...Who?" Both the duck and hummingbird asked in unison.

"Her... Isn't she like, that loser goth punk kid who made fun of us like over a year bro?" One of the beagles questioned.

"For sure bro."

"Yeah, it was totally her bro."

"But- But that's likely impossible." Violet stuttered.

"Beacuse, uh, she's been sick. Deathly sick. For the past ten years. In a children's hospital. In uh, Albania..." The hummingbird froze with unconvincing, wipe open eyes.

...

"Well then it can't be her bro. We've like, totally never been to Canada before bro."

"Yeah, Canada is like, totally unhip and lame-o bro."

"For sure bro."

"But- But- Albania isn't in-" Violet was interrupted as Louise yanked her aside, signaling for her to cut it out already.

"Rrrrrrhhh- Rrrrhhh!" The teenager on the ground continued to violently struggle in anger.

"Like, what's her deal?" One of the beagles asked in confusion.

"Oh, heh-heh." Louise walked back to rub the sorceress on the arm.

"She just doesn't want to get her fresh air and sunshine. Goths, am I right?"

"Yeah..."

"...So, who are you little dweebs then?" The same beagle asked.

"I'm her brother- Uh, uh! Sister! Definitely sister! Totally sister! I totally ment sister!" The duck smiled suspiciously as the three beagles slowly turned to the silent young hummingbird standing beside her.

"...Just a close acquaintance."

In a instant the two girl's long connected sleeves came loose, revealing a pair of black handcuffs locked around both of their wrists.

"Oh boy..." The duck whispered to herself in fear as the gentle warm breeze blew up her skirt.

"Okay, why are you like, handcuffed together? That is like, totally suspicious bro."

"Yeah, I know bro!"

"Yeah! Totally suspicious bro!"

"Excuse me? I'm not your brothe-"

"-Cops and robbers! We were playing cops and robbers." Violet was interrupted by her friend forcing her curved beak closed.

...

"...We were the robbers." Louise quickly explained after being met with surprisingly threatening expressions from the Beagle Boys, before immediately calming down to their prior ignorance all at the same time.

"DUUUUUDE! That is like, totally cool!

"Wicked cool!"

"Yeah, totally cool bro!"

The most radical of the three beagles walked up to the teenager on her back to look over the dark sun glasses strapped around her head.

"...DUUUUUDE! Those shades are totally-"

"-NO, NO! HER EYES! THEY'RE SENSITIVE TO THE LIGH-"

"-WAAAAHHHH!" The beagle screamed like a little girl and fell backwards in a totally uncool fashion after getting a short glimpse of the teenager's intense, demonic yellow eyes.

"DUUUUUDE! Her eyes are like, totally hellacious scary bro!"

"Like, really bro?"

"Yeah, like really bro!"

"Rrrrhh- Rrrhh-"

SNAP! The tape wrapped around Lena's bill finally snapped clean apart.

"-RrrhhUUGGHH! UUUUUUGGHH!"

"I'll crush YOUR hollow BONES! Tear your cross-eyed EYES straight from their SOCKETS! Stick red-hot needles up YOUR EVERY orifice! AND EAT, YOUR FIRST BORN, CHIL- Mmmmmm- Mmmmmm!" The sorceress was eventually silenced by Louise stuffing a healthy cheese sandwich in her mouth.

"PSSSST! This, isn't, work-ing!" Violet whispered directly into her friend's ear.

"Vi! Don't worry, I'll handle this!" The duck pushed the hummingbird aside with a smile.

"Honest, she's really nice once you get to know her. She just hasn't taken her afternoon meds yet..."

"...For real bro. Legit, this is like, totally wicked gnarly extreme bro."

"Yeah, for sure bro!"

"Totally gnarly bro!"

"Ugh. Is everything you guys say at least some form of outdated slang from the early nineties?" Violet finally asked.

"...Bruh. Like, what are you talkin' about?" The three beagles stood clueless.

"Bro, I'm starting to think that something weird is going on here..."

Almost immediately interrupting the awkward silence in the open wooded clearing, a large hot tub blinked right into existence and floated high above in the sky, casting a dark shadow directly in the middle of where Lena was laid out flat.

"...YEEESSS! AH-HA-HA, FINALLY!" The sorceress laughed almost hard enough to kill the teenager early.

"The time, is at hand. My REVENGE, shall be fulfilled! The needles, shall- WAAHHH?!" Magica's hysterical rant was abruptly cut short as Violet and Louise pulled Lena to safety at the last second, the heavy hot tub just barely missing the teenager's head.

"NOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOO-OOOOO!" The sorceress cried out in true inner pain as Lena had not been crushed to death.

"Gim- Gimme that!"

"NO!

"HAND IT OVER!"

"Dr. Gearloose, please!"

"GET YOUR PAWS OFF MY-"

"-Calm down!

"I'M COMPLETELY CALM!"

"HAND IT OVER!"

"NO!"

"DUMMY!"

"DUMMY!"

"DUMMY!"

"DUMMY!"

"AHH! AHH! AHH! AAHHH!" Desperately fighting for a small remote control in the hot tub, a tall familiar scientist with glasses and a muscular alien both dressed in old western clothing continued to angrily mouth each other off as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"YOU ARE A DISAPPOINTMENT, TO YOUR OWN PEOPLE!"

"SPECIESIST!" The female moonlander angrily grabbed the scientist and got in his face as an unfamiliar rich western duck with glasses sadly hung his arms out of the tub.

"...I should have stayed in bed with my gold today." He sighed.

"I would like to say that I am a very relaxed, loving moon person, who is not at all competitive... BUT THAT WOULD BE A LIE!"

"DUMMY!"

"We've, got, company..." A tall bipedal horse with a stone Scrooge McDuck's head on it's neck clapped in Morse code.

Slowly turning their heads in complete silence, both the scientist and the moonlander stared directly at Violet, Louise, Lena, and the three radical Beagle Boys in surprise.

"...Don't ask." Both Louise and Gyro spoke in deadpan unison as Fenton quickly flipped a switch on the remote, causing the hot tub and everyone in it to flash out of reality.

Causally dusting herself off, the young duck dresssed in green cleared her throat and stood to her webbed feet while still chained wrist to wrist with her friend.

"I assure you, absolutely nothing weird is going on here..."

* * *

Meanwhile. In an alternate timeline. Several days in the past.

...

"...UGH!" A very impatient Lieutenant Penumbra now wearing an ancient Greek barb over her normal golden armor pulled a pair of cheap binoculars away from her eyes and crushed them in her hands.

"How much longer are you going to be in there? What are you even doing, taking a rest period?!" The moonlander asked as she lifted up Gyro Gearloose's Latin intern to her face in anger.

"...Penumbra, I already told you. I don't even remember stopping here in the first place, I don't remember any of this. And it hasn't even been five minutes yet."

"Please put me down... Gently." Fenton smiled meekly, as he currently wearing very similar Greek clothing.

"Lieutenant, Penumbra!" The moonlander corrected loudly.

Gyro sighed deeply and rubbed his face behind his glasses, like everyone else standing in the hot tub in the middle of the sidewalk right outside Doofus Drake's mansion, he and Manny were also wearing out of time period Greek apperal.

"...Well-" The tall scientist began as he turned around the prepare the replacement time tub for travel.

"-Looks like we found The Wicked Witch of Duckburg, and her single, flying monkey."

"...WHAT? WHERE, WHERE?" The excited moonlander lifted the crushed pair of binoculars backwards onto her eyes, still somehow able to see through them.

"THERE HE IS!" Penumbra announced loudly as she spotted a very close up Fenton slowly walking towards them without the Gizmosuit as if nothing was wrong.

She gasped. "He's right on us!"

"Wait! What will happen to past me and the future me if he's aware that the future me, is- is-"

"-Oh, blathering blatherskite... Everyone duck!" The Fenton in the tub quickly shoved everyone around him down, all of them still very visible to other Fenton that just noticed the out of place hot tub right in his path.

"He's, going, to, see us!" Manny clapped loudly.

"...Dr. Gearloose? Manny?"

"Gasp! Della's loyal moon companion?" He stopped after getting a good look at the top of his own head in the tub.

"An exact perfect clone of me? Wait, are you guys, stalking ME?" The Fenton asked while in obvious confusion.

"Not sure!" Fenton hopped up and shook his past version's hand.

"Does it count as stalking if you're actually the person you're stalking through elaborate time travel?"

"...No. I guess not." The other Fenton humbly agreed.

"Illumination!" Both Fenton's spoke up quickly in exact unison and pulled out a pen and notepad.

"A person shaking hands with themselves via time travel! This is an important milestone in molecular science that needs to be recorded for all future generations! HA!" They simultaneously bumped their fists together.

"Ugh. Intern?" Gyro began with obvious annoyance in his voice"

"What do you think you're doing out here? Without your, Gizmosuit?" He asked sternly with his arms crossed at his chest.

The other Fenton paused.

"...What's a Gizmosuit?"

...

"-Raaaaarrrrrr!" By the time everyone had turned their heads, Lieutenant Penumbra had already leaped out of the hot tub, running full speed towards the massive tree house mansion with her charged ray gun in hand.

"Is she, alright?" The other Fenton asked?

"...Far from it." Gyro simply replied.

"Alright-" Scrooge's head scientist clapped.

"-let's go."

"Dr. Gearloose, we can't! Penumbra! We can't just leave her in the past like this." Gyro's intern pleaded.

"Hmmm. If she wants to meddle in the past where she doesn't belong, who am I to stop her?"

"But Magica could KILL her!" Fenton begged.

Gyro slowly shook his head.

"We've rewritten history enough already. We'll get back the Gizmosuit, the little girl, and the moondummy's corpse for experimentation and research back safe in the present..."

"But what if we just use to Gizmosuit to apprehend Magica and rescue Webby now?" Fenton asked.

"I'm starting to worry about her. She's- She's not a bad kid."

"The not baddest..." The other Fenton agreed with a nod.

"...I have no argument in this." Manny clapped after a bit of silence among them.

Gyro slowly shook his head again.

"Too risky."

"Why do you dislike Penumbra so much anyway? What did she ever do to you?" Fenton asked as Gyro's face began shifting through several unrecognizable emotions.

"Ugh... Fiiinnnee." The tired scientist began, completely ignoring his Latin intern's last question.

"We'll go and get her. But then we're going RIGHT back to the present, no further questions."

"We've got a seemingly innocent captive locked up all by herself in there in the present. So unless you want to find her alone and long dead, we'll have to travel back to the same day we left in the present."

Gyro pulled his shadow ray gun out from underneath his straw hat and cocked it.

"Let's go..."

...

"GOOOOooo!" The scientist pointed forwards and ordered loudly, his voice audibly cracking in bulit-up frustration.

"Yes Dr. Gearloose!" Both Fentons saluted and quickly ran off at the exact same time.

"Wait NO! NOT BOTH OF YOU!"

"FLY MY PRETTIES. FLY." Manny clapped.

"Manny, stay..." Gyro calmly motioned for his dependable intern to remain put and slowly followed after his two other interns to the billionaires mansion, leaving the ghostly bipedal horse standing all by himself in the middle of the hot tub.

"...DUUUUUDE! Taquitos be so far out man!" Three totally radical Beagle Boys quickly rode straight past down the sidewalk on their skateboards.

"Like, wait what?"

They all rolled backwards at the exact same time and stared blankly at the horse in the tub besides them.

"Move along. Nothing weird to see here." The lonely intern clapped.

* * *

...

"...EARTH CHILD RESCUE TEAM, OPEN UP!" Penumbra blasted a huge opening through a locked wooden door and violently kicked out the remains sections to floor.

"Alright De Spell." The moonlander growled loudly in anger as she charged up her ray gun to full power and aimed it back and forth in the small, dark, single window room.

"Where are you? Where are you?! WHERE ARE YO-"

"-She's nooooot here." Gyro held up a tablet, zooming in on the spot the device had guided them.

"But the Gizmosuit DEFINITELY is! And all we have to do, is-" Scrooge's head scientist immediately stopped as his tablet finally succumbed to it's low battery and shut itself off.

"...Interns, loving mother of E.T., do what you do best."

Gyro paused as both Fenton's and Penumbra silently stared at him in confusion.

"Cause as much pointless destruction and violation to private property as possible."

...

"Uuuggh." He sighed in obvious disappoint and held the palm of his hand to his forehead behind his glasses.

"Find, the Gizmosuit..."

"...On it Dr. Gearloose!" Both the interns began to quickly rummage through the boxes and containers cluttered all across the dark room as the moonlander just watched.

"Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we just turned on the light?" Fenton flicked a switch on the wall, almost immediately illuminating the room in a blinding, white light.

"Aaaugh! This burning sensation, what is this dark sorcery?! Cursed De Spell!"

Penumbra rubbed her unadjusted alien eyes and blasted the light on the ceiling with her ray gun, bringing the small messy room back to it's earlier low lighting.

"...Good job." Gyro said as a Lil' Bulb hopped onto his shoulder and lit up his bored face.

"Okay, let's see. What do we hav-" The other Fenton was interrupted as he lifted up a small black hand taser from a box, accidentally activating a high voltage electric current dangerously close to his face.

"UHH! Blathering blatherskite!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, a cardboard box burst open as pieces of a bulky white robotic armour flew through the air and gathered around the Latin duck, holding him off the floor by a singular, wobbly tire.

"Blathering blatherskite!" Fenton exclaimed in surprise, quickly causing the Gizmosuit to fit around him instead.

"Waahh- Ahhh! How do you, steer this thing?!" The intern rapidly rolled backwards and forwards out of balance.

"Great! We found the suit. Now can we hurry up and get out of here already? This room is giving me serious creepy evil vibes..." The other Fenton asked.

Gyro signed.

"The core prosseser is controlled by your brain. So just try to think of things, like actually being a successful scientist for ONCE."

"Okay okay!" Fenton tried his best to remain upright in the unfamiliar armour.

"Uhhh, come on brain, think of things. Come on brain, think of things. Come on brain, be so smaaaaaaaaaarrrt!"

CRASH!

He quickly rode directly backwards against a tall shelf, knocking all sorts of seemingly random items onto himself.

"Speaking of things..." The other Fenton bent down to lift up the hand taser that had fallen to the floor.

"You don't think Magica De Spell is planning to use this on Webby do you?"

"...Well, I wouldn't put it past her." Gyro frowned.

"WHHAAAT?! SHE WOULDN'T DARE!" An angry Lieutenant Penumbra lifted Gyro up by his collar in anger and then suddenly paused.

"No wait, she totally would dare..."

"Guys, look at this-" Fenton still inside the Gizmosuit on the floor searched through the unusual items scattered all around him.

"-syringes, needles, earbubds..."

"...A disc of, hymn songs? Wait, WHAT?"

"Isn't this like, the complete opposite of something Magica would have?"

"What is a hymn song? Is it similar to a battle cry?" The now genuinely curious moonlander asked.

"...You know what religion is right?" Gyro crossed his arms as Penumbra continued to hold him off the floor.

"I AM NOT A CHILD!"

"Hmmm. Trying to figure out a person like Magica. It'd be easier to teach Della Duck to gut a goldfish..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY BEST FRIEN-"

"-Guys, look at this..." The other Fenton interrupted as he pulled out a tiny set of jet black skimpy clothing from a box and held it up.

"Is this even legal?"

"...Alright, I think we've seem enough for one time trip." Gyro walked up and quickly stuffed the clothing back into the box and closed it, as Penumbra began breathing heavily and silently pounded her fists together.

"Now that we know where it is, all we have to do, is leave the Gizmosuit here, travel back to the present, and-"

"-Raaaaarrrrrr!"

"Ohhh, shoot..." Both Fenton's said in unison as the moonlander warrior dressed in Greek clothing had already stormed out of the room and into the rest of the billionaires mansion.

"NOOO! THE TIME STREAM! WE'LL GET HER BACK IN THE PRESEeennT!" Gyro's voice cracked badly as he yelled into the dark hallway.

"I WILL FIND YOU SMOL EARTH CHILD!"

"...How have they not heard us yet?" Fenton asked as he carefully rolled forward in the Gizmosuit before quickly falling backwards onto the floor.

"She reminds me of M'Ma." The other Fenton said with a smile.

"Mine too." Fenton also said while on the floor.

"UuuUUGH! YOU HAVE THE EXACT SAME MOTHER DUMMIES!" Gyro yelled back as he ran after Penumbra as fast as he could.

"...Magica is probably going to die." Both Fentons agreed.


	18. The Webby De Spell Privation Liberation!

...

"...So, what's it like being a sea creature?" Ma Beagle asked as she slowly walked over to a small fishtank on the floor, filled to the brim with clean water.

Floating underwater as still as possible on the inside of it, a kidnapped eleven year old known by her family and friends as Webby Vanderquack, magically transformed into a merduck with a pink fish tail and everything, remained completely silent in her glass prison.

"Not fun huh?"

"Well I'll tell you what's really not fun. Having a bunch of failure as criminal sons working for you..."

"And I'll admit it. You're more competent then all of my sons combined..."

The criminal's unexpected compliment got merduck's attention.

"...Really?"

Ma Beagle nodded.

"Bigtime and Magica have the same problem, they make things way too complicated."

"If she wanted too, Magica could have struck Scrooge and his entire family dead days ago."

"But did she? Nooooo."

"If I had her powers, you'd all be burning in hell..."

"OKAAY!" A magical booming voice echoed from all corners of the room.

"I'd HATE to interrupt your smalltalk, but it's time for a professional to TAKE OVER."

Magica De Spell suddenly teleported into the large darkened room in a bright red could of smoke.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to deal with one of Scrooge's lackeys..."

"HEEEY WEBBY! It's ME, your loving Aunt Magica!" The sorceress skipped up to trapped merduck and waved with a smile.

"So, what's it like being a sea creature?"

Webby frowned and stared back at her in clear annoyance.

"Ma Beagle already asked that. And you're not my Aunt Magica..."

Magica paused and turned around to Ma Beagle standing still behind her.

"Silly me, already forgot you were here."

"Well, you being here won't hurt anything. Just sit back and relax... AND WATCH. AS I TEAR EVERY BIT OF PRIDE AWAY FROM HER."

"AH-HA. AH-HAHAHAHA!"

"...Would you like some popcorn?"

Not five seconds after the sorceress had asked the question, the locked wooden door to the room was suddenly kicked wide open, revealing a tall, intimidating outline in the hallway.

"Yes, extra salty, with the scared drops from your eyes..."

The figure quickly held up her ray gun and fired off a glowing shot directly towards Magica De Spell's very surprised face, hitting her right in the forehead.

"AAAAUGH-AHHH!" The skeleton sorceress recoiled backwards as her skull sizzled and slightly cracked, distracting her long enough not to cast a counterattack.

"YES! Score one for righteousness justice."

"...Wait, Penny?" Webby questioned after hearing the triumphant familiar voice.

Breathing heavily, the dark figure slowly held her lit up ray gun to her face, illuminating it enough for the merduck to barley recognize her.

"PENNY!"

"Finally! The cavalry has arrived! WOO! Best alien invasion, EVER!" The merduck immediately lit up in joy and did little a spin in the water, pounding her fists on the glass with excitement.

"Highfalutin hornswoggle. Wild women from outer space..." Ma Beagle stood speechless, then quickly realised it was a good idea to back up against the wall.

"...Wait? LENA! Is she okay?! Magica, she-"

"-RaaAAARRRRRR!" The merduck was interrupted as Lieutenant Penumbra quickly charged forward with all her strength and ran a very disoriented Magica hard against the wall behind her, holding her arms down so she couldn't cast any spells.

"Your superfluous spells and hapless hocus-pocuses won't save you THIS TIME YOU EGREGIOUS EARTH WITCH!"

"YES! Punch her! Hit her! Kick in her in sunken shins!" Webby cheered the moonlander warrior on from the safety of her little tank.

'NO-NOOOO! I am, Magica De Spell! The- The Shadow Queen! The infinite DARK CURSE upon generations down- UUUUGH!" The sorceress fell limp as she was punched hard enough to dislocate her skeleton head.

"I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!" The merduck stuck her face up against the glass.

"Cover your ears! You're still young and innocent!" Penumbra turned her head to Webby and ordered loudly.

"...And NO lip reading!"

"But I'm not, that innocent..." The merduck grinned mischievously.

"JUST, DO IT!"

As soon as Webby covered her ears as she was told underneath the water, the furious moonlander began shouting all of the long stored-up Earth profanity her best friend Della had introduced to her, directly into Magica De Spell's terrified and confused face.

"-AND YOU'LL BE SORRY FOR STRANGLING AND BEATING HER UP, RESTRICTING HER MUCH NEEDED RELIEFS, SEASONING HER EYES, FREEZING HER HALF TO DEATH, PENETRATING HER TONGUE, FORCING HER TO LAUGH HER LUNGS OUT AGAINST HER WILL, VIOLATING HER YOUNG UNDERFLUFFIES, DRESSING HER LIKE A MIDGET HOE POLEDANCER, AND ASSAULTING HER LITTLE FEATHERED KEISTER!"

"Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAAAT?! I never did any of that! I was only THINKING about doing THAT!" Magica tried her hardest to lift one of her hands up to cast a defensive spell.

"...BELLIGERENT BIMBO BASATRD!" Penumbra paused before slapping the sorceress' head, causing it to quickly spin in a circle.

"Your PATHETIC PUNY past existence regards no INNOCENCE!"

"I HAVE NO idea what's GOING ON!" The ecstatic merduck continued to watch in joy as she could still clearly understand everything that the moonlander was saying through her hands.

"Rrragh! Rrragh! RRRAAAGH!" With a final hard shove against the wall, Magica's dislocated neck snapped in half, letting her still screaming head fall to floor with her eyes still alive in her sockets.

"Not in the past, neither in the present, I will allow you to put your hands on any child-" Penumbra stopped to throw the sorceress' motionless decapitated body to the side and lift her right boot high above her head on the floor.

"-EVER, AGAIN!" She effortlessly stomped Magica's head to cloudy dust underneath her weight.

...

"I held it in for so long." Penumbra spoke after a moment of complete silence, unaware that someone was slowly sneaking up from behind her.

"So have I..." Webby paused before quickly raising her bubbly voice from underneath the clean water.

"Wait, PENNY! WATCH OUT! SHE'S GOT A-"

CLANG!

Before the moonlander could react, she was hit on the back by of her head by a flying brick through golden helmet, instantly knocking her cold to floor.

"-briicck..." The merduck finished sadly.

"Well, that was unexpected." Ma Beagle straightened her hat and closed her purse.

"I think I should be thankful to my future self for refusing to lay a single finger on you..."

"...What's wrong with ME?!" Webby asked loudly in tired anger.

"I'm soft, cuddly, and absolutely adorable! Not to mention Scrooge McDuck's honorary wee Webbigail!"

"Don't forget, I still hate both your guts remember?" Ma Beagle stood over the merduck in the fishtank.

"And with Magica now out of the way, all I have to do is ransom you back in exchange for the deed to Duckburg..."

"Oooooh, NICE PLAANN!" A familiar loud magical voice rang out from the empty darkness.

"But honestly, it lacks creative thinking, not forgetting the perfect opening for at least an hour or so of gloating afterwards."

"Wait?" Webby began in confusion while looking around.

"How are you-"

"-You'll never get anywhere close to earning the title of anyone's greatest enemy that way. You've got the work in the little details, make it personal." A large dark shadow with glowing red eyes suddenly flew down from the high ceiling.

"It'll work, because it's simple..." Ma Beagle explained with her arms crossed.

"Hmph!"

"So, I see your friendly with this accursed alien fool here..." The shadow sorceress lifted the still unconscious Lieutenant Penumbra up in the air with her magic.

"...HEY! You leave her alone!" Webby pounded on this glass surrounding her from all sides with her fists.

"She's my granny's boss' long-lost niece's best moon friend now close bedside roomie tooth brush sharer! You can do whatever you want with me, JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"Really now? That's cute." Magica smirked.

"...You see Webby, for a long while now, I've had this SPECIAL little spell in the works, prepared SPECIAL, just for YOU."

"Buuuuttt, I haven't tested it out yet. It could be dangerous, it might possibly even kill you..."

"And we wouldn't want THAT now, WOULD WE?" The sorceress telekinetically grabbed at the merduck's cheeks through the fishtank.

"Ow- Ow- Ow- Ow- STOP IT! RrrrRRRAAGH!" Webby swung the back of her first hard against the glass in anger, leaving a small visible crack in it to her side.

"...If I were you I'd possibly refrain from doing that."

"Now then! How would you like to be my Guinea pig for today?" Magica shook the unconscious moonlander back and forth in the air, making her nood her head.

"So brave."

"NOOOO! PLEASE DON'T HURT HER!" Webby begged as she tried to lift off the locked lid to her tank.

"She- She didn't know what she was doing! She just gets real excited sometimes. Like Uncle Donald! That's ALL!"

"...Okay, I guess I can fix that then. We'll just have to teach her a little lesson." The sorceress turned away to cast her spell.

"HERE, MAGICA LOOK!" Webby quickly pulled up her long drenched shirt and swam up against the glass.

"Just TICKLE TORTURE me instead! You know how badly you want to do IT!"

...

"Sorry. But your obvious lack of feet right about now would just make it boring." Magica turned back away.

"But I have other ticklish spots! Like the inside of my right ear! And also MY SPLEEN!" The merduck admitted loudly then stuck her finger in her ear, causing herself to genuinely laugh underneath the water.

"SEE?! I have a nice loud youthful laugh, AH-HA-HA-HA! And you obviously LOVE LAUGHING RIGHT?!" She asked with wildy frantic expression on here face.

"Your both ruddy insane..." Ma Beagle spoke coldy to them.

"...Sorry, but no." The sorceress quickly snapped her shadowy fingers together, instantly causing a bright light to flash in the darkness as she lifted up Penumbra's ray gun up in her hand.

"UUUUGH! Where is that subspecies lunar twi- Oh, she's already dead." Pausing for a bit after seeing Magica's battered skeleton on the floor, Gyro Gearloose suddenly walked into the room with Fenton in the Gizmosuit following close behind.

"Hmmm, not sure what I expected."

"She is so aggressive..." Fenton stared down at the dusty skeleton through his visor.

"...GIZMODUUUCK! HURRY, HELP PENUM-" Interrupting Webby's shrill muffled call for her friend's help, Magica shot a fully charged blast of burning enegry directly into Penumbra's face, following with two sharp slaps and a kick between her legs, knocking her and all her oversized golden armor hard onto the floor in her now fifteen year old body.

"PENNNNYYY! NOOOOO!" The merduck cried out loudly trapped underneath the water as Gyro and Fenton just stared silently at the still unconscious moonlander on the floor.

"Whoops! Sorry. I'm such a klutz with these things." The shadowy sorceress twirled around the still hot ray gun in her hand and laughed.

"And of course I love laughing. Especially when they're laughing so hard they can't breathe. HA!"

"...Blathering blatherskite! Penumbra!" Fenton paused after getting a good look at Magica's young aquatic captive in the fishtank.

"Webby? Wait WHAT?! Why are you, much more of a of FISH, than normal?"

"Don't mind me! JUST HELP PENUMBRAAA!" Webby pounded desperately on the glass.

"What?! You again?!" Magica looked on in surprise.

"...Yyyou!" Gyro took a step forward and pointed his finger at the dark living shadow in the air.

"You absolute mONSTE-"

"-Dr. Gearloose?! What's going- AAGH?!" Scrooge McDuck's head scientist was interrupted as the other Fenton burst into the room and bumped into him.

"WHAT?! You again again?!"

"Okay, I'm completely lost now..." Ma Beagle commented.

"...My tired fish eyes must be deceiving me! THERE'S TWO FENTOONNS! Wait! That's actually kinda cool! Oh sorry, I just revealed both of your secret identities again." Webby chuckled nervously.

"Blathering blatherskite! What happene- Waaahh!" The other Fenton was quickly incased in the Gizmo armor and driven uncontrollably around the room.

"Uhh, uh, weapons! Weapons! What does this thing have in stock for weapons?!"

"FORGET the weaPONRY! JUST- WAAAUHH!" Gyro ducked just in time to dodge a quick shot of burning ray gun energy from Magica, knocking his hat and his damaged Shadow Control Ray onto the floor behind him.

"...ALLRIIIGHT! YOU ASKED FOR- AAAUGH!" The scientist immediately covered his face with his hands as the shadow sorceress shot directly towards his glasses, blasting out the frames of them and leaving a deep burn across his face.

"DR. GEARLOOSE!" Both Fentons and Webby exclaimed in shock.

"Hmph! Striking down you sorry fools with your own weapons! I see there's quite a bit of ironic entertainment value to be had here..." Magica went back to twilling the ray gun around.

After being helped up to his feet by both of the Fentons, Gyro stared upwards at the blurry sorceress in anger.

"...THAT'S IT! INTERNS, it's time."

"After you needlessly wasted our lab I decided to add a minor adjustment to the final prototype-" He aimed the damaged Shadow Control Ray at Magica and switched it to the highest possible setting.

"-number eleven..."

Shooting off a continuous bright beam of blue light directly at the sorceress in the air, Gyro and the pair of Fentons fought to hold up the powerful surge of energy as Magica only counterattacked with her own red beam of energy from her hands.

"Ooooh! So it's a Beam-O-War I see?! Magic versus science. And as we all obviously know, MAGIC, ALWAYS, WINS!"

"...SINCE WHEN HAS MAGIC EVER WON?!" Gyro asked loudly while still in pain.

"Oh, I dunno..."

"How about right, NOW?! HAAA!" The shadow sorceress increased the power of magical beam, pushing the three rescuers back against the wall.

"Such a pity. Seeing you all try so hard, yet still not hard enough..."

"Hope you enjoy the rest of your sad little existences. AS JUST BLOODY STAINS ON THE WALL!"

"NO! I can't watch." Webby quickly covered her eyes with her hands from inside the fishtank.

...

"...Raaaarrrrrarrarrarr!" A much shorter and younger injured moonlander suddenly ran up and helped her three friends hold the Shadow Control Ray steady, forcing Magica backwards instead.

"Penumbra? You're alright!" Both Fentons realized at the exact same time.

"EEERRGHH! LIEUTENANT PENUMBRA!" She almost immediately corrected with her now childishly loud voice.

"Wait WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD?!" The sorceress questioned aloud as she was now up against the wall instead.

"...Absolute hate." The furious moonlander seethed.

"Hey!" Ma Beagle walked up the four rescuers and stood beside them.

"WHAT?!" Gyro and Penumbra asked loudly in perfect unison.

"During all my long years as a brilliant criminal mastermind, I've learned quite a few valuable life lessons that desperately need to be passed onto the future members of the Beagle clan..."

"Lesson one. Never pointlessly anger your enemies, especially when they're ultra rich and powerful."

"Lesson two. If you need things, you work harder to get them."

"Lesson three. Defeat isn't bitter if you're smart enough not to swallow it."

"Lesson four. The worst thing you can be in life is a damn fool."

"And lesson five. Simple actions, bring simple-" She paused to punch on the light switch behind her without looking back, illuminating the large darkened room in light.

"AAAAAUGH! AUUGH- N-NOOO-NOOOOO!" Magica felt her powers significantly weaken as the bright light and Shadow Ray beam shot straight through her shadowy form, throwing her backwards as red cuts cracked all across her.

With a final ear-piercing shriek that gradually fell into a inaudible curse, her glowing red eyes slowly faded to black as her motionless spirit floated silently with it's head snapped far backwards.

"...Ka-ther...ine."

As quiet as Ma Beagle's slow breathing, the dark shadow turned to dust and was blown into the empty void of non-existence, letting her visible red powers settle down into her savaged headless skeleton on the floor.

"-results..." She switched back off the lights, returning to room to it's original low lighting.

...

"You might have just saved all our lives. But, but WHY? You're a villain!" Fenton asked, not sure what to expect to hear from her.

"Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing." The other Fenton in the Gizomsuit asked as well.

Ma Beagle sighed and slowly put her hand atop Webby's locked fishtank.

"...We're all the heroes in our own stories. I may be a villain to you, but I'm not an idiot, I do everything for a reason. Did you even hear what I just said?!"

"Lesson four. The worst thing you can be in life is a damn fool."

"Magica may have been ultra powerful, but I didn't do thing for her. She was a fool, a disgusting creep, an obvious kiddie fiddler, and a moron."

"...You can look now. Everything's fine." She rapped on the glass of the fisktank to get the merduck's attention, as she was still covering her eyes.

"Your loving Aunt Magica is dead..."

"Wait... She's-"

"-YES! MAGICA HAS BEEN SLAIN! Lena is finally safe! WOOOOO!" Webby uncovered her eyes and began to celebrate with a wild smile on her face.

"Good. Now that that's all over, we leave-"

"...Wait. If- If Magica is finally dead, then- then how long will I be like this?" The merduck suddenly interrupted Gyro.

"Wait! What took you guys so long?! And what the heck?! What was Penumbra talking about? Magica never did any of that awful stuff to me!"

"WAIT! You hurt Penumbra! How could you?! She didn't even anything wrong! You monster!" Webby pressed her tired face up against the glass and glared angrily at Ma Beagle.

"...I'm not sure, I'm not a wizard, time travel, and you have no idea do you?" Gyro frowned, not able to see clearly without his glasses.

"Wait. Time travel?" Webby blinked a couple times.

"Are- Are you saying you guys came from the future to rescue me?"

"Then- Then Magica really did, assault my little feathred ke-" The merduck paused.

"...I'M GONNA FREAKING KILL HER! ...AGAIN!" She pounded on hard the glass.

"Forgive me for intruding, but why are you Earthers now so much taller?" Penumbra asked as Webby was the only one in the room that took notice of Magica's headless skeleton on the floor ever so slowly raise a single dusty hand in the air, slowing curling and flexing it's bony fingers.

"Uh, guys?" The merduck's eyes widened in sudden fear.

"Penumbra, we didn't grow taller, you grew shorter. Or, possibly several years younger." Fenton tried to explain.

"HA! You and your fake dummy Earth explanations. A warrior can't grow shorter, they only grow stronger with the cycles."

"G-Guys?"

"I'm- He's not lying. Here, see for yourself." The other Fenton pulled out his gizmo-mirror.

"GUYS?!"

As soon as the obvious moonlander recognized her much younger reflection in the mirror, she wordlessly fainted backwards into Gyro's arms.

"I've got ya moon kiddo..."

"What? She's a kid now. Do you really think I'd insult a kid?"

"Yes." Both Fentons and Webby simply responded in unison.

"Wait... GUUUUUUUUYYYYS!?"

"WHAT?" Everyone awake in the room turned around to face the now terrified duckling turned merduck pointing towards the floor.

"M-M-M-M-MA- MAGICA!"

"Muh-ha-ha... ha..." The headless skeleton snapped it's fingers together, leaving the room in complete silence.

...

"Wait, what is- WAAAHHUGH!?" Gyro fell backwards in shock as Penumbra began violently shaking. Throwing her head upwards, her dark red-eyed shadow emerged from her mouth and flew up to the roof, along with Gyro's own shadow, his two intern's, and Ma Beagle's.

"Aaaugh! What- AAAHHH-AAAAHHH!" Webby clutched her burning chest and screamed underneath the water as her own dark merduck shaped shadow freed itself from inside her of her body and burst through the lid of the fishtank, finally letting her resurface and watch as hundreds of more shadows gathered in the room and tore a large hole in the roof.

"...Oh, my gosh. What is happening?" The little merduck stared straight up into the blinding bright daylight and the now massive black ball of thousands of swirling shadows.

"Everyone STAY CALM!" Gyro stepped forward with the still unconscious moonlander in his arms and aimed the damaged Shadow Control Ray at the quickly growing blurry mass of darkness above.

"I'll just-" Right before the now half-blind scientist could fire off a shot at the shadows, the ray gun quickly fell apart in his hand.

"-Oh." He stared calmly at the scattered pieces on the floor.

"Would, this be a bad time to mention that I need to go? Like, right now." Webby asked as she held herself up out of the fishtank.

"...Go where?" Gyro questioned.

"You know, she needs to go and spend and penny..." Fenton explained.

"What?"

The Latin intern sighed sadly. "You know. Visit my, laboratory."

"...I'd say- AAAAAAAUGH!"

Instantly interrupting the slow-placed and awkward conversation, trillions upon trillions of dark shadows suddenly shot down from above with the force of a rocket and disappeared into Magica's motionless skeleton below.

Unbeknownst to the six figures in the room, every single shadow in the universe except one in particular had been caught up in the magical torrent.

...

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The last shadow screamed and fell from the now dark and stormy sky, barely stopping herself from being sucked down into the skeleton with the rest of the shadows by clinging onto the hole in roof for her life. Although she was now completely black and had lost most of her features, Webby still recognized her immediately.

"Wait LENA?!"

"UUHHH! Webby?! WEBBY?!" The shadow quickly recognized her young friend's voice and tried to look down to see her, only to finally be sucked feet first into void of held back darkness.

"WEBBIIIIIIIIIIEE!"

"LEEENNNAAA!" Webby fell out of her fish tank and crawled as fast as she could to the skeleton on the floor.

"LENA LENA LENA LENA LENA!"

"NO! GET BACK!" Gyro held the desperately fighting and struggling merduck off the floor right before she could beg the skeleton to release her best friend.

"BUT LENA! I CAN'T LOSE HER AGAIN! Not again! NOT AGAIN! LEEENNNAAA!"

"...Gizmoduck, hold her." The scientist ordered sternly.

"I'm sorry Webby..." The other Fenton apologized as he held her back in the Gizmosuit.

"NOOOOOOO! I NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH! LENA?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?! WHHYYY?!" Webby began to cry as she was quickly losing her breath.

"Webby please, I think your hyperventilating. You need to-".

"-UGH! For cryin' out- She can't breathe! Just put her back in the water already you metallic moron!" Ma Beagle angrily got in the other Fenton's face.

"...NOOOOOOO! I AM being HELD back against MY WILL!"

"Webby please calm down! Lena is safe and sound in the present! You're both safe now. It's okay, you can relax now. Everything's- WAAAHuhh?!" The other Fenton stopped putting the struggling merduck back in her fishtank as dark shadows suddenly burst out from Magica's skeleton and filled the large room.

With the steady pace of a heartbeat, the darkness flashed and began to slowly expand as a shadowy sphere that consumed the head-less skeleton in it's veil grew larger and larger, pulling in reality within itself like a black hole.

"...Oh deus meus." He whispered to himself in fear.

"Stick her back in the tank and go! We need to get out of here NOW!" Gyro ordered as he threw the younger Penumbra over his shoulder.

"Uh, uh... Uh, okay BYE!" The other Fenton quickly waved before tossing Webby aside into the fishtank and raced towards the open door in the Gizmosuit.

"NO! BRING HER TOO, IN THE TANK! FORGET THE TIME STREAM! Interns, to the time tub- WAAAAAAAUGH!"

Bright red magical lightning suddenly struck directly through the hole in the roof and shattered all the glass out of the fishtank, letting the warm water and somehow unharmed soaking wet merduck flow out onto the carpeted floor.

"Oh, no." Her pupils shrunk down in her large eyes as she was slowly sucked backwards into the ever-growing void of shadows.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"I'm- I'm about to become ONE with LENA! THIS IS MY FINAL MESSAGE! TELL MY STORY!" Webby dug her fingers into the carpet as her fish tail flapped about behind her.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Ma Beagle pulled out a strong coil of rope from her purse and swung it around in the air like a lasso.

"This ain't my first rodeo..."

The criminal matriarch successfully threw the loop around the merduck's tail and easily pulled her safely away from the dark sphere of shadows.

"Here! You carry her! She's been in that water for far too long..." Ma Beagle shoved the very confused on why she was saved Webby into Gizmoduck's arms and quickly made her way out the door.

...

"...I'M BETTER THAN THA-" The exhausted and irritated merduck was suddenly interrupted by her lack of oxygen and began to panic again.

"I- don't, wanna, di- Uugh. L-Lena-"

"Oh no! Dr. Gearloose, what do we d-" The other Fenton in the Gizmosuit paused after coming up with an idea.

"-Salvation! Manny! Ha-ha, that's it!"

"What? What's IT?! That child, is literally DYING, on the oxygen we breathe!" Gyro explained as he was still carrying the unconscious moonlander over his shoulder.

"No time to explain! We've got a double emergency on our hands! A lack of water, and I'm guessing maybe a little too much water..."

The other Fenton grabbed the half-blind scientist by the hand and dragged him and Penumbra out of the dark room as the original Fenton followed.

"We have all the TIME we WANT! Time travel remembe-" Gyro paused in sudden realization.

"-BAAAAAAAAUUGH!"


	19. Gloom and Doom!

...

"Ma?"

...

"Ma?"

...

"MA?!"

...

"MAAA?!" A tall grey beagle boy dressed in overly-edgy dark black clothing quickly opened up the twenty-fifth wooden door he had come across in his search and paused, staring silently into the spacious pantry inside.

Equally spaced apart in straight rows on the shelves, dozens and dozens of large beautiful jars of pure honey sat closely to each other, waiting patiently to be pried opened and enjoyed.

"Ooooh..." He wiggled his fingers and carefully snatched up a singular full jar in his gloved hands and unsuspiciously stuck it behind his back.

"...MAAAAAAA!?! MAAAAAAAA?!" The excited Beagle Boy immediately went back to aimlessly running through the maze of hallways and doors in Doofus Drake's mansion.

"MAAAAAAAA?! MAAAAAAAA?! MAAA-" Accidentally knocking his now very annoyed mother, his jar of honey into her hand, and all his trick playing cards to the floor, he unsurprisingly found himself lying on top of her stomach.

"...MAAAAAAAA! MAAAAAAAA!" The incompetent Beagle Boy awkwardly fumbled and flailed around.

"WHAT?!" She glared coldly up at her exceedingly inept son.

"Look Ma-" Quickly taking back the jar, Black Arts pulled it out from his purple cape in a unnecessarily dramatic way and showed it off.

"-HOnEy!"

"...That's IT?!" Ma Beagle questioned angrily.

"What? No, no. Of course not." The Beagle reassured her.

"You remember the time I was trying out some suspiciously dark and edgy forbidden spells in the junkyard over a year ago and all our shadows came to life and ever since then I've been trying to re-create the spell?"

"...Yes?"

"It worked..." He simply confirmed.

"Get off, get off!"

"But, but aren't you proud of me Ma? Now we can create an infinite army of shadow warriors to-" The Beagle Boy was suddenly knocked against the wall as his mother swung her heavy purse at him.

Grabbing his dopey masked face in her hands, she pulled herself up as the hallway shook and trembled.

"You bumbling, commode-hugging, knee-walking DRUNK! This mansion is going down..."

"FOR THE SWEET LOVE OF EVIL RICH GOODNESS, CAN I DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!" He questioned aloud in great distress as he was painfully dragged away by his ear.

* * *

...

"Let's see, orange Pep, grape Pep. Orange Pep, grape Pep. Orange Pep, grape Pep." The other Fenton in the Gizmosuit looked back and forth between the two various different flavors of soft drink in the open refrigerator in front of him.

"Ooooh, Pep Select!" The original Fenton jumped up and grabbed a cold bottle of orange soda in his feathered hand.

"Which of these do you think she likes best?"

Bang, bang! SMASH! Gyro Gearloose burst through the wooden door leading into the second largest kitchen in the mansion.

"You imbeciles, what are YOU DOING?!  
No seriously, tell me exactly what you are doing. I- I can't see very well right now..."

Slipping out from underneath his straw hat, Lil' Bulb lit himself up several times in Morse code to the half-blind scientist.

"Raiding the FRIDGE?!" Gyro questioned loudly as the little robotic helper quickly corrected himself.

"Excuse me... SODA FRIiiiIDGE?! WHERE'S THE KID?!"

Blinking a few times in confusion, both the Fentons pointed towards Gyro and spoke in unison.

"Currently, over your shoulder."

"Wait, is she actually-" The scientist turned to the still unconscious younger Penumbra on his shoulder and continued to freak out.

"The other, KIIiiiiID- sorry, my voice cannot handle all this inessential screaming." He stopped to sigh and clear his throat.

"Where, is, the, fish-kid?"

...

"Oh, she's back there in the sink..." Both of the Fentons said as they turned away back to the fridge.

"Bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl!" Webby laid blindly flat on her back with her head underneath a polished silver faucet, a downpour of water clean was splashing onto her face and in her mouth.

"What?! What, is she doing, in THEEERE?!" Gyro went back to his prior inessential screaming.

"Well, we- we tried to find bottled water for her to drink, but all we could find was Pep. Tons and tons and tons of Pep." The other Fenton chuckled.

"Cheery Pep, orange Pep, grape Pep, Sparkle cheery Pep, Sparkle orange Pep, Sparkle gr-"

"-A child, cannot survive, on PEEEEEPPP!" Gyro interrupted very loudly, his arms flailing wildly behind him.

"...Louie does." The original Fenton simply said.

"The girl?"

"Dr. Gearloose, her name is Webby. And last time I checked, heh, Louie was definitely a boy..." The other Fenton rubbed the back of his helmet.

"...WHAT?!" Gyro questioned as an emotionless rich kid with glasses calmly walked into the room and past him.

"Uhh, I'm pretty sure he's- uhh she's uhh, girl now..." The original Fenton paused and watched as the unfamiliar intruder stood above Webby in the sink.

"...I'm sorry, who are you?"

Slowly turning to face them with a stone-cold gaze, the young duck held up an oversized diamond studded golden ring in his hands.

"Doofus Vanderdrake. Subsequent spousal of Webbigail Vanderdrake... In marriage." He responded, causing Webby to immediately spew and cough up water in the air.

"MARRIAGE?!" The merduck sprung upwards in wide-eyed sudden shock.

"I hardly even know you! And I'm sure I don't want to know anything else new about you at ALL!"

"I'd rather marry Bubba, or- or Rakky, or- or LAUNCHPAAAADD!"

"Launchpad?" Both Fentons questioned quietly.

"Or- Or Huey! Or- Or- Dewey! Or- Or-"

"-Doofus..." The billionaire child fastened the golden ring around her left wrist and turned her around in the sink.

"BUT- BUT- You're a duck, I'm a fish, this goes against all the rules of human nature!"

Completely ignoring what Webby was trying to tell him, Doofus grabbed the fighting merduck by her tail to pull her out of the sink. 

"NOOOOO! HE'S TOUCHING ME! MAKE HIM STOP TOUCHING MEEEE!" Webby screamed as loudly as she could as she held onto the edge of the counter for her life while Doofus calmly examined her tail in his tight sweaty grasp.

"Where are your holes Webbigail?" He asked as sniffed her shiny pink scales over.

"I always wanted to become a merduck slash mermaid slash sea warrior slash ancient sunken sea relic, but- what holes?" Webby suddenly paused.

"...WHAT HOLES?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE?! WHAT IS HE DOING BACK THERE?! WHAT HOLES?!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! WHY DOES BEING KIDNAPPED CONSTANTLY LEAD ME TO BEING FORCIBLY ASSAULTED BY SOCIOPATHIC CREEPY WEIRDOS?!"

"This is, BY FAR, the stupidest rescue mission, I've ever been a part of. Interns, destroy the child." Gyro ordered.

"AAAAAAA- Wait. How many rescue missions have you been a part of, again?" Webby asked.

"...The successful ones?" Scrooge McDuck's head scientist slightly tilted his head as the merduck's expression changed to a mix of fear and intense disgust, mostly brought on by her new husband unceremoniously squeezing her tail in his hands.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! FENTONS, DR. GEARLOOSE PLEASE!" Webby begged as she continued to desperately hold onto the kitchen counter for dear life, unable to kick backwards at Doofus from her lack of legs.

"I- I can't brea-" The merduck finally let go of the counter as she began to choke and gasp silently for oxygen.

"Have no fear random fish! Uh- Uh, citizen!" The other Fenton in the Gizmosuit quickly raced up to Webby and pulled her away from her nonchalant assailant. 

Snapping open the aluminium top off a can of cold grape Pep, the Latin superhero poured the soft drink down her mouth.

"Glug- Glug- Glug- Glug-"

"Intern, NOOO! DON'T GIVE HER THAT! THAT'S SODA! It'll just-

"Ahhhhhhh..." The satisfied merduck wiped off her bill with her feathered arm and sighed.

"...I needed that." 

"Wait what?" Gyro looked confused.

"You, actually like that?"

"Glug- Glug- Glu-"

"-Of course! Grape is my absolute favorite! Thank you Gizmoduck for making my final living moments on this green planet, the BEST!"

"Glug- Glug- Glug-" Webby continued to gulp down the soda in her hands as Gyro only crossed his arms and frowned.

"Huh, unmatched wisdom from a dunce..."

"Glug- Glug- Glu-"

"-DO NOT CALL HIM A DUNCE! HE'S A PURE, BLESSED BEAUTIFUL BOY WHO'S DOING HIS BEST! Rrrrrragh!" The merduck angrily threw the can of grape Pep directly at Gyro, the aluminum can lightly hitting him and bouncing of his forehead.

"Wow. An eleven year old just boosted my ego. Maybe we should keep her around the lab more often..." The other Fenton stared forward blankly as he unknowingly petted Webby's head with his robotic hand.

"Dr. Gearloose, does past Webby seem a bit, off, to you?" The original Fenton asked.

"How should I know? I'm not her rich uncle. And as far as I know, this is her normal."

Looking down at the still half-filled can of grape soda at his feet, Gyro looked back up to Webby 

"...Don't you need that to breathe?"

"Oh, heh. I still can't breathe. But who cares?! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIEEE- Wait..." The merduck exclaimed with a surprising amount of joy and then suddenly paused.

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!?"

"You will if just waste the last minutes of your lives carousing away in some rich kid's kitchen." Ma Beagle stood in the open door frame with Black Arts' ear tightly in her fingers.

"I'm no expert on dark fantasies and the supernatural, but take it from somebody who has seen things that would make any normal commoner drop cold dead..."

"...This universe, and everything in it, is doomed."

"Sorry Ma." Black Arts began to apologize.

"I didn't realize that such a simple little dark spell could literally bring about the shadow apocalyp- YeeeeOWW!" He was cut short as his mother lifted him upwards by his ear.

"That big ball of shadows is quickly heading this way, getting bigger by the second, and my gut feellings is telling me that it won't stop anytime soon, for anything. Nothing can stop it..."

"I reckon you all obviously came from the future to rescue that kid for some, hopefully logical reason. So let me ask you time dandies a question, what were you fools fixin' on doing afterwards?"

...

"Dr. Gearloose, we've rescued Webby, defeated Magica De Spell, and retrieved the Gizmosuit. But- But at what cost, bringing forth the end of the world and everything in it? Have we really, re-written history?" The original Fenton asked.

Gyro sighed.

"Surprisingly for once, it's not your fault..."

"Oh. Uh, thanks Dr. Gearloose." The original Fenton rubbed the back of his feathered head.

"Wow, heh. It sure is a load off my mind to know that-"

"-It's her fault." The scientist finished, simply pointing to the young moonlander over his shoulder.

"THAT'S RIGHT. Everyone give a great big round of applause to the alien instigator of irreversible universal doom. Your friend and not mine, Lieutenant Penumbra. Now WHOOOO could have seen that coming?"

"Oh really?" An unfamiliar deep and malicious voice spoke from somewhere in the large kitchen as the lights flickered and shorted out, the mansion shaking from the rapidly growing mass of darkness inside it.

"An instigator of irreversible universal doom is she?" The voice cackled loudy and then paused.

"Don't make me laugh..."

"Friend of yours?" Gyro turned to Ma Beagle standing closely behind him, she only barely shook her head with a mildly cross expression on her face.

"There's only room for one instigator of doom and destruction in this UNIVERSE!" The voice continued as a red smoke bomb was thrown down from a sturdy pot rack hanging above and a darkened caped figure emerged out of the thick smog.

"...And that would be me."

"I am the HORROR that stalks in the NIGHT!" The masked duck revved up a chainsaw in his hands and held it high.

"I am the-"

"-UHHH! The purple hero guy! He's changed costumes on us and turned evil!" The other Fenton in the Gizmosuit quickly backed away with Webby safely in his hands.

"WHHHAATT?! I am not any, PURPLE HERO GUY! Are you kidding ME?! YUuuck..."

"I am THE-" The darkened figure was once again awkwardly interrupted by Webby gasping desperately for air in the other Fenton's hands.

"Uh oh. Sorry, got to go. Bye!" Gizmoduck politely waved before racing out of the kitchen with Gyro, Ma Beagle, and Black Arts being dragged close behind.

"Yeah, uh, see you later. As well. Bye!" The original Fenton also waved and quickly followed them.

"HEY! I didn't introduce myself yet! Where do you all think you're going?! STOOOOOP!" The egocentric caped duck dropped his chainsaw to the floor and chased after everyone who had deserted his dramatic entrance.

"Oh sweet Webbigail. Why can't you see? You were just made to be mine, as I was made for you. Still so blind, young, and naive, why can't you see?"

Doofus Drake stood completely alone in the darkness with his shiny reflective glasses over his eyes and pulled out a remote from his pants pocket.

"One day, you will become, mine..."

* * *

...

"Get back here! Get back here! Nobody ditches Jim Starling in his prime and makes it out ALIVE!" The demented masked duck grabbed the original Fenton by his legs and dragged him to the floor as everyone else ran ahead of them.

"No, my skin! So very baby soft, so easily bruisable!" Struggling away from his attacker and quickly standing to his feet, the Latin duck looked back to see the now swiftly approaching wave of shadows and immediately switched into full hero mode.

"You all go on ahead! I'll, hold him off!"

"...Wait, why does that suddenly sound so ominous?" He paused.

"But, without the Gizmosuit how can I- That's it! Ha-ha! Your weapons are right here. Fist numeral uno, and fist numeral dos."

Fenton rolled back his short sleeves and threw himself at Jim Starling right as he jumped up to pounce on him, holding his arms high above his torn red fedora.

"WHAT?! HOW ARE YOU DOING SO GOOD?!"

"I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable. I am, an original..." Fenton closed his eyes and let his head drop as both he and Jim Starling were swallowed together into the mass of growing darkness.

"Aaaaaahhh-" The mask duck's screams were muffled into silence as the shadows slowly ate him alive.

"Intern!"

"Fenton!"

"MEEEEE!" Gyro, Webby, and the other Fenton watched as their ally disappeared into the void of shadows behind them.

"In hindsight, this is all still the moon dummy's fault. And yes, I said it..."

"Dr. Gearloose, she was only trying to help!" The surviving Fenton tried to explain.

"LOOK!" The exhausted little merduck pointed forward with her finger to the front door of the mansion.

"FINALLY! SWEET FREEDOOOOOM! WOOOOO- Wait... What about LENA?! WE CAN'T LEAVE HER BEHIND LIKE THIS!"

"Webby, I already told you. Lena is safe and sound in the present." Fenton held Webby up in both of his hands.

"But- But didn't you guys already re-write history?"

"DID YOU GUYS JUST RETCON LENA STRAIGHT OUT OF EXISTENCE?!" Webby stuck her face right up against Gizmoduck's visor.

"No, no. I'm sure it's nothing like that. Heh-heh. Magica De Spell just took over her body or something so we had to tie her up, that's all..."

"...WHHHAATT?! HOW COULD YOU?! Oh wait, my inner hypocrisy swells."

Throwing open the front door, Fenton tried to carry Webby out into the large stormy world outside, but was suddenly stopped as her thick golden ring around her wrist magnetically attached itself to the doorframe.

"AHHHHHH! MY ARM! MY ARM!" The trapped merduck cried out as Doofus Drake was now standing silently behind them with a remote in his hand.

"Oh no, Dr. Gearloose! Our load has been slowed!"

"Just, LEAVE IT BEHIND!" Webby ordered loudly in her shrill, shrieky voice.

"HOW?! WE CAN'T TAKE IT OFF!" Gyro tugged against her golden shackle in an attempt to pull her free.

"MY ARM! JUST CUT IT OFF AND LEAVE IT BEHIND!"

"Amputation?!"

"Della did it..." The merduck simply explained as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Della Duck is a borderline, self-sadistic, contemptible PERSON! You, are a FISH-CHILD!"

"What did you say about MY FAMILY?!"

"You're not related to them!"

"Only by law... Which means NOTHING! Uuuuh!" Webby gasped loudy from the lack of oxygen and dread as Doofus calmly approached her.

"HE'S GETTING CLOSER!"

"UGGH! Did you absolute morons forget already?!" Ma Beagle snatched away the remote from the emotionless child billionaire standing beside her and pressed the biggest button on it.

"Simple actions, bring simple-"

BOOM!

A massive muffled explosion went off somewhere in the mansion, cutting off all the electricity in it and letting both Webby and Fenton fall through the door and out onto the front porch.

...

"If the world wasn't ending, I'd seriously recommend you'd get that fixed- WAAAHHH?!" Plowing straight past Ma Beagle and Black Arts in the foyer, a small grey robot flew out of the wall of shadows and the front door at high speeds.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT THING?!" Webby questioned loudly in her squeaky tired voice as Gyro just audibly gasped in shock.

"It, it can't, be..." 

"What? What is it-" Fenton tried to ask as Ma Beagle walked over him, still dragging her son behind her and out into the storm.

"...Webbigail." Doofus suddenly stood tall above his precious Webbigail on the porch and held out an open hand to her from inside the doorframe.

The little merduck sighed.

"Just because your rich doesn't mean you can do and have whatever you want. People should have the right to choose their own paths in life, and not be forced into marrying someone they hardly even know..."

"Wait, what is happening?" Gyro asked.

"Can't you see? You can't force someone to love you. The best you can do is strive to be someone worthy of loving... EXCEPT YOU! YOU CAN JUST FALL IN A HOLE AND DIE!"

"Rrrrrragh!" Webby threw the last empty can of grape Pep at Doofus' forehead, the can lightly hitting him and bouncing off into the grass.

"Theeeere we go..." Gyro nodded in approval with a smile.

"Oh, well. The darkness consumes me from behind. I'm sure we'll meet again sweet Webbigail, in the next life..."

With little to no visible emotion on his face, Doofus finally let himself get sucked backwards into the growing void of shadows behind him, his eerily calm voice slowly fading to silence.

"...I WON'T BE WHERE YOU'RE GOING MISTER!" The merduck screamed back as Fenton just casually lifted her up in his hands and something hovered closely above them

"Hi, I'm BOYD. A definitely real BOOOOOOYYYY!" The small robotic parrot's voice shifted into a deep demonic tone as it's eyes glowed bright red.

"WAAAAaaagh?! 2BO!" Gyro fell back in fear as he was barely able to recognize him without his glasses.

"Wait, Dr. Gearloose? What are you doing here?" The robot asked in his normal voice as he continued to hover with his rocket-feet.

"Let me guess, friend of yours?" Ma Beagle asked in a very condescending tone.

"Dr. Gearloose, what is going on-"

"-DON'T ASK! HURRY! Just take Webby to the Time Tub!" Gyro quickly interrupted Fenton and tried to push him away.

"Sorry, my programming is telling me to destroy you all, or possibly to employ you all..."

"Well, since your obviously one of Gyro's creations that turned evil, I'd say it's probably destroy us all..." Webby simply confirmed for him.

"Thank yoooou!" The robot politely thanked her before fully re-activating his weapons system.

"WEBBY!" Both Gyro and Fenton exclaimed in exact unison.

"What? Oh, heh-heh, right..." The merduck softly chuckled in embarrassment and blushed.

...

"Just GOOOOOOO!" Scrooge McDuck's head scientist ordered as he pushed Fenton forward the Time Tub parked on the far side of the yard.

* * *

Sleeping all by himself despite his cold stony eyes being very wide open, a ghostly bipedal horse laid comfortably on his back in a large empty hot tub, unaware that the entire world was literally ending all around him.

"Manny!" Fenton inside the Gizmosuit began as he struggled to simultaneously fight off BOYD flying all around him and safely hold onto Webby.

"Take the Time Tub to a different time fill it up with water and travel back hurry!"

"But why?" Manny clapped in Morse code, eventually taking notice of the dying little merduck holding tightly onto Fenton's right hand.

"Oh."

Taking the small remote control in his hooves, the intern somehow managed to make the improvised time machine and himself flash out of reality.

"Sorry! Sorry! Ever so sorry! Sorry!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"Stop, apologizin- Uugh, uuh, help-" Webby was promptly cut off as she was barely able to speak from her now dangerous lack of breath.

"Sorry Webby." Both Fenton and BOYD apologized quickly as they continued swinging their fists at each other as the merduck only held on for dear life.

"...Sorry it took a while." Manny immediately clapped as he flashed back into existence and stood tall in the now filled with water Time Tub.

"Manny, catch!" Fenton rolled a few yards backwards away from BOYD and threw the choking merduck high in the air as the robotic parrot suddenly decided to change it's target and tackle the horse to the ground instead.

"I sincerely apologize in advance, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to tear your brittle head off."

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Manny clapped in pain as BOYD began to slowly decapitate him.

"AAAAAAHHH- Oh no! Manny- Huh?" 

Webby felt time slow down to a crawl as she hit the top of her trajectory in the dark stormy sky. Feeling some sort of mysterious mystical power begin to awaken inside her as the thunder rummbled overhead, the merduck growled and swung her right arm around and aimed it directly at the robot's metallic, feathered head.

"YOU, WILL, NOT... HURT, MY... FRIIIEEENDD!"

Right as Webby's fist made contact with it's target as she fell, her eyes glowed pure white as a bolt of lightning struck the end of her tail, knocking both Manny's and BOYD's heads onto the sidewalk as she roughly rolled into the empty road.

"...Oh, MY, GOD." A headless Manny clapped in shock.

"Did I do good?" Webby barely managed to ask before her arms gave out underneath her and she collapsed face first onto her stomach, her bruised body sizzling in the light rain.

Quickly standing up and lifting the still smiling unconscious merduck in his hooves, Manny gently dropped Webby into the Time Tub and stuck his stone head back onto his neck.

"Uuhhh! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Gyro asked as he and Fenton finally made their way up to the makeshift time machine on the sidewalk.

"The pink fish-kid wiped out the grey robot-kid. With, LIGHT-NING." Manny clapped excitedly to them.

"Oh, well that would explain the steaming." Gyro turned his head to Webby who was motionlessly floating face-down on the surface of the water.

...

"UHHHuuhUH!" Fenton suddenly gasped loudly as he looked behind him.

"Dr. Gearloose, look!"

The entirety of Doofus Drake's billionaire's treehouse had been completely swallowed in the now massive black sphere of swirling shadows, the mass of thick darkness still growing larger as the storm only grew worse and worse.

"Just in the NICK OF TIME! C'MON!" Gyro quickly climbed into the Time Tub with Lieutenant Penumbra still safely over his shoulder and pulled Fenton in as well.

"There, I think that's everyone. Now we can- where's the remote?" Scrooge McDuck's head scientist paused.

"...WHERE'S THE REMOTE?! MANNY, WHERE'S THE REMOTE?! WHERE'S THE REMOTE?!"

"Hands up heroes..." Ma Beagle spoke as the familiar sound of a shotgun being cocked could be heard from behind them.

"I promised a long and successful future for the Beagle family, and no so called shadow apocalypse is going to make me break that promise. We'll be going along with you."

"Now!" Gyro felt the cold barrels of a gun push against the back of his head.

"Scoot aside..."

"Sorry, we don't have the remote. And without it, we're not going anywhere." Gyro frowned as he continued to hold his hands high above his head.

"...Of course you don't you dolt! I already swiped it away from your weird, horse- thing. I'm not an idiot! Now, BOYS!"

"I suddenly feel violated." Manny clapped with his hooves in the air.

As soon as they heard their mother's loud and clear order, Bouncer, Burger, and Black Arts being dragged behind by Big Time emerged from the bushes and quickly clambered into the crowded hot tub.

"Is it true Ma? Are we really gonna travel through literal time and spacetime? Whoa, this water's cold..."

"Ugh. Shut it Big Time. Now! We can- where's the remote?" Ma Beagle stuck her hand in her purse to feel for the remote.

"...WHERE'S THE REMOTE?! WHERE'S THE REMOTE?!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE IIiiit?!" Gyro questioned very loudly in sudden panic and obvious frustration as Webby slowly began to wake up.

"Of course I don't have it! You think I'd ask where's the remote if I knew where's the remote?! Wait a minute..." She turned to face her four sons who quickly smiled and waved to her.

"...Alright you numbskulls!" Ma Beagle angrily recocked her shotgun and aimed it at her sons who immediately held their hands up in fear along with Webby.

"Where's the remote?!"

"Don't worry Ma. It's always in the last place you look for it." Big Time reassured her with a smile.

"Well in your case, underneath your hat..." His mother frowned.

Pausing to think back for moment, Big Time lit up and simply pulled the remote in question out from underneath his hat and held it in front of his face.

"Oh..."

"I wanna give it to her!"

"I stole it first!"

"I deserve to do something right for a change!" The four Beagle Boys immediately began stupidly fighting for the remote.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Ma Beagle quickly held her shotgun up to them as Gyro didn't seem to care.

"Don't worry Ma. I've got the-" Slipping out from Big Time's wet hand and falling into the water with an audible plop, the remote sank all the way to the bottom of the overcrowded hot tub.

"Intern, remember when I said this is by far the stupidest rescue mission I've ever been a part of? Well, this is now the stupidest LIFE experience I've ever been a part of..." Gyro frowned in annoyance.

"...YOU BUFFOONS!" Ma Beagle continued to hold up her shotgun in anger.

"Don't worry-" Webby instinctively held her breath and swam down into the water to retrieve the small remote in her bill.

"-Got it! Wait, what is happening?" As soon as the merduck resurfaced, she was met with shotgun barrels up to her face.

"Freeze..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A familiar feminine voice cried out as a massive hand made of shadows reached down and snatched the shotgun away from Ma Beagle and threw it up in the sky, causing it the get struck by a random bolt of lightning and fall to the ground.

"...What does that sailor duck of your's say at times like this again?" Ma Beagle asked.

"Aw, phooey?" Webby wondered.

"That's it."

"THE DARKNESS APPROACHES." Manny clapped loudly in warning.

"Wait, did that mystical buff shadow hand sound awfully familiar to you guys?" The merduck asked with her hand on her chin.

"...What?" Gyro questioned.

"WEBBIIIIIIIIIIEE!" A dark living shadow still connected to the massive sphere of darkness by her feet suddenly freed herself from the rapidly expanding mass of shadows and struggled to run up to her best friend in the hot tub.

"Lena? LENA! You're OKAY! I think..." Webby smiled widely as she held out her open hand to the scruffy looking shadow named Lena Sabrewing.

"NO, GET BACK! She could be dangerous!" Scrooge's head scientist quickly lifted the merduck up and backwards to safety.

"But, it's, LENA!"

"WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH HER?!" Gyro questioned as he fought to hold Webby still and Ma Beagle quietly slipped into the Time Tub.

"...I am not obsessed with her! I just love her with all my little fish HEART and SOUL!"

"Uhh, Dr. Gearloose? I don't think that's a very good ide-"

"-You, will, not, keep, me, away, from, my, best... FRIIIIEEEENNDDD!" The merduck screamed as she began to swing her fist around in a circle in Gyro's tight grasp.

"You wouldn't dar-"

WHAM! Webby socked him right in the face with the remote in hand, instantly knocking him unconscious in the water.

"Lena, Lena!" The merduck almost immediately transitioned back to peak joy as she carelessly threw the Time Tub's remote backwards into Fenton's hands and once again held her hand out to Lena on the sidewalk.

"Sorry Webby, time to go!" The Latin intern pressed the button down just as Webby made contact with her friend's dark shadowy finger, causing the Time Tub and everyone in it to flash out of reality and leaving Lena all by herself in the now heavy rainstorm.

...

"Webby?"

"Webby?!"

"WEBBY?!"

"WEBBY, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"N-No, no, no no, no."

The shadow fell flat to her face on the ground and bawled as the mass of darkness behind her continued to slowly grow and consume everything alive in it's path, sparing nothing but Lena's cries of despair for her very best friend.

* * *

...

"Uhh! C'mon, c'mon! Get into your happy place, get into your happy place! Money, treasure, complete pampering..."

"Louie, STOP! Lena is dead, you are an old man, I am an old woman, Webby has been kidnapped by you know who and taken to who knows where, and a manchild in a child's body is LITERALLY PILOTING THE PLANE!"

"This is your Captain speaking, if you look out the back of the plane, you'll see a beautiful orange sunset all across the horizon. And if you look out the front of the plane, you will see what looks like a curved mountain of eerie darkness rapidly approaching."

"The visibility out there is less than zero folks. I'm not totally sure where we are, but hey, at least we're still in the air..."

"WAAAUHH?!" Launchpad McQuack fell out of his swivel chair as the Sunchaser quickly came to a compete stop, the bottom of it scraping against hard stone and rock.

"You just HAD, to jinx it!"

"Ugh, Uncle Scrooge. Your talking to Launchpad trapped in Dewey's body. That's like double the reckless endangerment to us all." Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body explained.

"Oh, right, fair point."

"...RRRAAAaaaaUGGH!" Della in Donald's body kicked the inside wall of the Sunchaser in anger, forgetting that her left leg was now made of flesh instead of spaceship parts.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, ow..."

"RRRAAaaaUGGH! You just had to insist on flying this time! I was ready, ready to fly us all off into the sunset and to safety. BUT NOOOOO! You just had to show off your, fancy piloting skills to Penny!"

"Yeah, I have to agree with Della's argument on this, she actually should have piloted it this time." Penumbra crossed her arms and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, uh..." Launchpad stuttered as he backed away from the front of the plane.

"You two, stop fighting! Look!" Mrs. Beakley in Huey's body ordered as she pointed towards the wave of darkness seeping through the cockpit.

"Uncle Scrooge... WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Huey tightly held onto his Uncle in fear.

"The Stygian Shadow Death. A curse made up of every single shadow in the known universe. It will slowly spread until it covers, the entire, Earth..." Scrooge McDuck in Louie's body finished.

"Wait, why didn't they just call it the Black Death then?" Louie in Scrooge McDuck's body asked.

"...Because that already happened. Killing every-"

-Whoooaaa." Dewey in Launchpad's body quickly climbed up to the wall of darkness and stuck his hand through it.

"Hey Huey look, I'm not dead..."

"DEWEY NOOOO!" 

"What? Wait, WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Dewey stepped back in shock as the flesh on Launchpad's arm had been reduced to nothing but bone.

"KILLING, every living thing it makes contact with." Scrooge continued.

"...There's no escape from it, and no way to reverse the effects of it. Humanity as we know it, is doomed."

"Curse you De Spell..."

"Wait, how can you be so sure this is Magica's doing?" Louie asked.

"Who else would have brought this onto us? Glomgold?" Scrooge raised a single eyebrow.

"Oh, heh-heh right, shadows is her whole thing..."

"...Uncle Scrooge, what, what are we going to do?" Donald in Della's body asked, trying his best not to panic as his Uncle slowly held out his hand to him and gave him a look of acceptance.

"Kids... Beakley, Launchpad... Penumbra?" Scrooge smiled as he hugged his nephew closely, signaling for everyone else in the plane to join them.

"Just for the record, it's Lieutenant Penumbra, but okay." The moonlander admitted defeat and decided to face death with dignity together with her Earth friends.

"...Webbigail. There may not be a future for us, but it may not be too late for you. If you're still somewhere out there alive, don't give up. Don't ever give up! You're better than that, I know you are!"

"Compared to you, Magica is nothing more than a tired old witch, built up by years of cheap parlor tricks and desperation."

"Lass, I believe in you..."

Scrooge McDuck closed his eyes as he and his remaining friends and family were finally consumed by the wall of dark shadows.


	20. Friends in Fowl Places!

Webby couldn't quite put her finger on it, dispite the answer quite literally being on the damp, feathered, tip of it.

She felt like she was dying, or at least some part of her on the inside had already died and hadn't been fully expelled yet.

Webby wasn't exactly sure what it felt like to die, or if it was even possible to feel death like it was something she could reach out and physically touch up close and pet.

It felt like a sharp sting, a venomous but subtle chill that started at the bottom of her fin and then climbed all the way up her back. Ending it's short journey by eventually subsiding underneath the soft fluff at the back of her neck.

There wasn't a single shadow of a doubt in her restless, currently fragile state of mind, something was very, very wrong.

Maybe it all began a couple of days ago when her now deceased greatest enemy, Magica De Spell and her cohorts broke into her room and had somehow brought her down to only a sobbing, helpless pawn on the floor. Leaving her vulnerable long enough for them to safely make off with her, without the inconvenience of getting clawed or punched right in the face.

That night was now mostly just a blur of confusing and forgotten memories, as the skeleton sorceress had directly attacked the duckling's mind with her dark spells and magic, obviously in an attempt to gaslight her and just make her question her own sanity. After all, Louie would never call her a lass like her Uncle Scrooge would. Right?

Before she could completely comprehend what had happened to her, and that it all wasn't just a terrible fever dream brought on by something long expired she probably ate, she found herself left all alone, tightly bound hand and foot in a dark, unfamiliar room.

Webby wasn't exactly sure how long she had been left alone in that particularly boring and lonely predicament, but it was definitely long enough to leave her muscles aching and burning in pain as her legs were tied together and folded backwards with her arms closely connected.

Slipping out of ropes whenever necessary, something the duckling had long profected in her own little way and definitely considered to be a big part of being captured 101, but that time was different somehow. 

Unlike the time when the Beagle Boys grabbed her at Funso's Fun Zone and then tried to ransom her off to Scrooge McDuck, along with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, she was easily able to slip out just in time to stop their hapless leader Big Time from hurting them in anger. But this other time was still different.

Dispite her genuinely persistent efforts, Webby just couldn't quite break free from her very restrictive, resilient bindings, as Magica cared that little about her young captive's personal safety to not give her any leniency.

But on the other hand, since the sorceress had already proven to her that even if she could escape like she already tried, she could easily just teleport her right back where she found herself tied up in the first place. So it really wasn't that much about keeping her from standing up and simply running away, it was all about hurting and dominating over her in everyway possible.

It was on two different occasions when she found herself tightly bound and gagged on her stomach in that room that definitely could be responsible for this feeling of loss and death inside her, and Webby wasn't exactly sure which of those occasions was worse, as they both still greatly disturbed her.

Throwing her into a sudden panic just before she could fall back to sleep in her particularly painful bindings, she quickly realized that she wasn't quite as alone as she first thought she was. Someone else was with her in that room, staring her down in silence in the dark. And then he, he touched her! And she absolutely hated it.

Maybe it was just Magica giving her a taste of her own medicine in a way, as she was somewhat touchy and overly-friendly herself, not really respecting people's personal space as much as they preferred.

But, but she never touched anyone else like that before! Especially not on purpose or without their permission! Webby was already creeped out enough by the nonchalant attitude of her perfectly serene, calm assailant, but after revealing what he had already done to her in her sleep. She, she didn't want to remember it. And yet, he didn't even explain it all to her yet.

And then, and then Magica. That, that monster! She, she hurt her very best friend Lena! No wait! Hurt wasn't a strong enough word for it! She had, she had tortured her! Gleefully tormented her for a still unaccounted for amount of days while possessing her body.

Starving her by hardly eating enough to keep her from dying, cutting her open with knives and burning her, all while calling it punishment for disobedience as a slave!

Lena, wasn't a slave! Especially not Magica's of all people! She's my very best friend! She's mine! Why didn't she just tell me about this earlier?! Why?!

Well, at least Magica and Doofus are both dead now... Good riddance! The world will be better off with people like them out of it! Evil disgusting creep monsters! Eww!

Wait. But, but didn't Gyro, Fenton, Penny and Manny come from the future to save me? Penny seemed awfully upset for a person who I thought really didn't care that much about me. Or hardly anyone for that matter.

And, and all that stuff she claimed Magica did to me before she was turned into a kid. Magica said she was going to use that same spell on me. But, but I'm already a kid! What's the point of turning a kid into a kid again anyway?! Well, I guess it's actually fish-kid now. Or merduck or mermaid. They're kinda both the same thing I think. I'm not too sure.

And then Lena suddenly fell screaming bloody murder out of the sky and then got sucked into Magica's skeleton as it unexpectedly came back to life. But, but then she escaped, and then she looked all weird and raggedy, with her feathers all messy. She looked seriously sick or something.

Definitely not as beautiful as normal, but that doesn't matter! Melting featureless raggedy shadow person in the rain or not, she's still Lena! My best friend in the whole world! She loves me, and I love her!

But- But then- then- I touched her. And- And, then- Wait...

* * *

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Webby finally snapped out of her inner sleep deprived monologue as she fell out of the Time Tub and into the swift flow of the time stream. Trying to keep her head above the rapids, the little merduck didn't understand why she still couldn't breathe. And then she remembered.

"Oh, right. Heh-heh." She laughed at herself as she continued to float down the raging purple river high in the stormy, otherworldly sky.

"I'm an anti breather. I breathe wateeeeerrraaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHH- Uugh!" Immediately after dunking her head underneath the time flow, Webby fell through a deep swirling abyss and then eventually fell hard against the floor of a large, dark and red meeting room.

Quickly turning around in his chair and standing up, a darkened bespectacled figure walked over to inspect her.

"...Webbigail Vanderduck?!"

"Uhh, Hi! I'm Webb-"

"-Wait. How do you know my name? Or at least half of it? Who are you? I'm not world famous yet. I checked. Only found articles about Scrooge McDuck and his, family..."

"...Bradford Buzzard, of F.O.W.L.! No reason." The figure explained before lifting her off the floor by her wrists in his right hand.

"Hey! That hurts! Whoa, tight grip. Do you lift weights? An impressed Webby asked before being brought higher in the air, her fish tail dangling underneath her.

"Where are the others?! Speak up! We both know you couldn't have come here alone! If you want even a chance of living afterwards, you'll tell me everything you know, now..."

"H-Honest! It's- It's nothing like that! I just accidentally fell through time and space while-"

"-Wait, F.O.W.L.?!" The merduck questioned in sudden wide eyed surprise.

"...You're not lying." The buzzard laid her back on the floor while still keeping up his guard.

"Normally, I wouldn't believe it. But you're all far from normal. You're the Ducks. You have quite the record for the, wildly, unusual..."

"Uhh, thanks. Wait, was that a compliment?" Webby asked as the buzzard began to walk away.

"No." He immediately turned his head back to her.

"...Oh. HEY! Waaahhh?!" Webby cried out as the buzzard began to drag her forward by her merduck tail.

"You're a F.O.W.L. agent! A spy, a coward! A FIEND! One of your agents tried to destroy me and my granny! I should know, I killed her myself..."

"Mmm hmm... See this? Do you know what this is?!" He quickly held the merduck up to a vaguely familiar black logo.

"...I'm not sure if you want me to say an up close high-definition TV screen, or the Earth. Wait. Do I, know you from somewhere?"

"...Business, opportunities." Bradford slowly explained.

"Ugh! Business? That's just, eh, boring. OW!" Webby was pushed hard against the screen.

"Not this business! THIS, type of business, works a little differently. Embezzling away all the would be wasted money in circulation, stealing every valuable artifact that finds themselves conveniently destroyed or missing to history, and taking out every single possible threat to us without rousing any suspensions..."

"Why are you even telling me ALL this?!" The merduck began while still in pain.

"I'd understand Magica and Glomgold, but you?! You seem a bit too professional a villain for this!"

"...Because we've already won. There is no facet of my professional life that doesn't require or request improvisation. There's little harm explaining it to a frail superchild who only won a fight because of some juice."

"I am NOT FRAAAAIL! I'M JUST A LITTLE DAINTY! AAAAAHHH!" Webby was quickly held down onto the floor by her neck as she began to choke from a lack of oxygen.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I'M A GIRL! THIS IS FAR FROM A FAIR FIGHT YOU KNOW!" The merduck struggled and fought desperately for her life.

"Plugging the leak. Without legs, you're quite, expendable..." The buzzard's shiny glasses were now close to her face.

"Any last requests, heir of Clan McDuck?! Oh, and nothing stupid. We're only a simple little business here."

Hearing his offer, Webby decided she had no choice but to take her chance.

"...A glass of water?"

"Okay, I guess that's reasonable. WATERBOY!" Bradford let go of the merduck's neck and spoke into a small handheld mic.

"You called Mr. Buzzard?" A short white feathered duckling wearing a red shirt and a metallic visor over his eyes spoke as he walked into the room with a full serving tray in his hands.

"The girl requests a glass of water. It's her final one, so make it a good one. We're F.O.W.L.! Not a bunch of uncouth monsters..."

"Yyyyeeess sir!" The duck spoke in a eerily familiar eager the please tone.

"...That- That voice." Webby blinked.

"Huey?"

"Here you are!" The duckling handed her a cool glass of water.

"Filled perfectly to the point where it won't spill out while holding it up to your bill. A professional pouring and serving technique all Junior Woodchucks should-"

"-It's Huey." Webby calmly realized.

"Wait, IT'S HUEY?!"

"Yeeeppp! Us F.O.W.L. agents, we are everywhere. We are your husbands, we are your wives. We are your mothers, we are your fathers. We are your friends, we, are-" Huey bent down to his close friend and whispered softly in her ear.

"-your family..."

...

"NOOOOOO! What kind of nightmare inducing betrayal dark future IS THIS?!" The merduck fought to push the duckling away from her while still on the floor.

"You've studied and dedicated your entire LIFE to that DUMB guidebook for years!"

"All THAT, JUST TO BECOME AN UNGODLY COOL LOOKING CRIMINAL WATERBOY IN A MASK?!"

"...It pays well." Huey answered after a moment of silence.

"Now drink."

"Oh, how you would like me too." Webby muttered angrily with the glass in her hands as she felt her lungs begin to burn.

"Okay, fine... Glug- HAAAAAAA!" In a single quick gulp, she downed the cool water and threw the empty glass upwards at the buzzard's face, who caught it in his hand before it could hit him and gave her a look of calm indifference.

"Oh boy." The merduck whispered to herself on the floor in fear.

"...Do you have any idea who your messing with?!" Bradford stood tall over Webby, but still far enough away from her up close punching range.

"Your Uncle Scrooge, Agent 22, Crackshell-Cabrera, also once known as... Gizmoduck. Talented as they may be, they can't hold a candle to the power and influence under our control!"

"So you got lucky a few times and made it out alive, that's expected. Well nobody's luck can last forever."

"And your luck has just, run, out. Five, four, three, two, one..." As soon as he finished his countdown, the merduck continued to helplessly choke and wheeze to death.

"Hu-Huey, please tell me it's not true. That- That you've been working with these FIENDS! The reason you kept sneaking out at night, why you constantly read the Junior Woodchuck guidebook to us all? The reason why Launchpad is SO DUMB?!"

Huey sighed from behind his mask and calmly lifted it off his eyes.

"...Webby, Launchpad is just Launchpad, it's just who he is. And me? I'm a F.O.W.L. agent, it's who I am. I'm not a fiend, or- or a criminal. I'm just, approaching the world at a slightly different direction. The scientifically accurate direction to be exact."

"The people here, they listen to me. They respect me. They understand me. They, complete me..."

"We're not trying to destroy the world or anything, we're saving it. Saving it from people like Magica, and General Lunaris. If left unchecked, people like them, could ruin it for everybody..."

"...HUEY, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Webby suddenly crawled up to the young F.O.W.L. duckling and grabbed his legs.

"The 'F' in F.O.W.L., literally stands for FIENDISH! The FIENDISH Organization for World Larceny! DON'T YOU GET IT?! THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS! FIENDS! THE BAAAAD GUUUYYYS!"

"...Wait, I thought it was Foreign?" Huey turned to Bradford who now looked a little sheepish.

"At, one time it was, yes."

Hearing this Huey was greatly disappointed.

"Well, at least you guys changed it to Fiendish. Phew, that sounds a whole lot better than Foreign. Heh-Heh-ha!"

"...NOOOOOO! What have you done to him?!" Webby threw herself at the buzzard as she continued to slowly die from a lack of breath.

"It must have been a horrible procedure, because I don't see a single scratch on him! Those are the worst kinds."

"...If your talking about brainwashing and torture, then you must be daft. We don't believe in that sort of thing here." Bradford began as he simply pushed her away with his hand.

"We didn't do a THING to him. Besides just sitting him down and having a long, responsible, adult, conversation... It doesn't take a lot to convince an insecure lonely impressionable child to firmly believe in anything you tell them."

"THAT'S RIGHT! Wait what?" Huey paused.

"...If someone wants to believe in something, no matter how absurd it may be, trust me they'll believe it."

"I think in many ways, Hubert here is sort of a blank canvas. And we just helped paint him a clearer picture of a future for himself. Honestly, there's really not that much, to him..."

"YOU'RE WRONG! Besides all the Junior Woodchuck and perfectionist stuff, Huey is, BURSTING WITH CHARACTER and PERSONALITY! Like, he- he-" Webby stuttered.

"-Well, can you imagine IT?!"

"...No. I can't imagine it." Bradford responded with a single raised eyebrow.

"Oh..." The merduck spoke in quiet realization, seconds before going back to choking and gasping for breath on the floor.

"Hmmmph!" The buzzard stood tall over her again in the dark.

"Even while facing imminent doom, all you Ducks end up doing is just rolling around in your own shallow graves. Some world-renowned adventurer family you turned out to be."

"We respected you, took you all seriously. But your all weak. Shockingly weak actually..."

"Uhh, Webby?" Huey began.

"I've been meaning to ask you. Why do you look like that and are almost constantly choking? That, that doesn't seem very-"

"-MA-MA-MAGICA! S-She- Huey, please HELP ME! Ugh, water. I can't breathe..." Webby laid flat on her back on the floor and tried her best to somehow inhale oxygen like normal.

"Oh no, WEBBY!" Huey immediately went to fill up another glass of water but was stopped as Bradford quickly knocked it out of his hands.

"Agent Duck, no..."

"Director Buzzard please! She's- She's a part of my family!" The duckling begged while on his knees.

"Okay then, give me one good reason why we should let her live!"

"THAT, WAS MY REASON!"

"...Not good enough. She has little to no importance to us now."

"THERE IS NO US, ANYMORE! It's only ME! Huey Duck, Junior Woodch- AAAAAHHH!" Huey was interrupted as his visor suddenly came to life and tightly attached itself around his head.

"We, are, F.O.W.L.! Step out of line here, and be prepared to expect, dire, consequences..." Bradford spoke as he put a black remote back in his pocket.

"Webby- Webby was right! You really are fien- Mmmmm-hhhmgh!" The duckling desperately struggled to take off the mask as it completely blinded him by lowering itself over his eyes and then pulled a horizontal metal bar far back into his open bill that successfully kept him from speaking.

"...Face it Vanderduck!" The buzzard began as he closely watched the dying merduck underneath him, unaware that an abnormally tall, shadowy figure was creeping up behind him.

"You have nothing to threaten us with! There isn't a single member of your friends and family we haven't already long prepared for!"

"This is, the end."

CLANG!

The leader of F.O.W.L. was quickly hit to the side of his head with an awkward sideways punch that knocked his glasses far out of his reach.

"Okay, I don't think anyone expected that..." He fell cold to the floor as Webby was barely able to make out Scrooge McDuck's emotionless face staring down at her as she finally closed her eyes.

"...Uncle, S-Scroo-" The exhausted little merduck collapsed into her rescuer's grasp as he reclined her head backwards safely in his forearms.


	21. Webby and Launchpad vs the Future!

...

"C'mon. C'mon, wake up."

Webby Vanderquack instantly recognized a dry familiar voice as she was repeatedly dunked face-first and upside down into a large tub full of cool, clean water.

"C'mon, wake up already you lazy little rugrat..." The aloof dunker briefly lifted her up and shook her about in his hands before dunking her back under.

The feeling of the salty ocean liquid rushing into her throat and down her lungs was oddly comforting to the young duckling turned merduck, as like most aquatic creatures that breathed oxygen through their gills, she also couldn't last that long without water in her system.

"...C'mon. C'mon! WAKE UP. UUGGGhh! I swear, this halfwitted little kid could sleep straight through the end of the WORLD! Which, technically, she already has."

And while in completely normal circumstances she'd appreciate the thought, but by the sound of it, of all of the people to she wanted to revive her and save her life, one of the last persons on Earth she now wanted to owe gratitude to had his arms around her and was currently dipping her like a feathered chicken nugget.

"I wasn't sleeping, I was just practically belly flopping on death's doorstep you stuck up sun cooked half-brained brutish brainiac..." Webby spoke as she gradually began to blink and fully open her eyes.

"...WHHAaaT?" The dunker loudly questioned his own hearing with his voice cracking badly.

"Don't fool yourself into thinking I'd forget what you did. That you tried to keep me from Lena, and that-"

"-Where's Lena?" The upside down dripping merduck paused and slowly looked around.

"Where's Lena?!"

"...WHERE'S, LENAAH?! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Webby immediately grabbed her tall dunker by his neck and threw him into the Time Tub, holding his head underneath the surface of the water.

"AAAA-"

"Where's my DUCKing shadow princess that I love and I'd do literally anything for SAGHEAD?!" The heavily fatigued merduck continued to aggressively interrogate her unexpecting prisoner as he weakly struggled in her unrelenting grasp.

"I swear, if you let anything bad happen to her, I swear... I'll destroy everyone and everything within TEN MILES around myself INCLUDING MYSELF! I SWEAR! AND I'M NOT THAT LAAAAAZZY!"

"...Okay. I think someone might be a little bit, hungry-grumpy. Fenton inside the Gizmosuit gently grabbed Webby by the back of her shirt and lifted her out of the water.

"I think maybe she could use a nap..." 

"NOOOOOO, lemme go! He was just about to SPILL HIS GUTS!"

"Here Webby look-" The Latin intern quickly pulled out a aluminium tray filled with a certain fresh delicious dessert and held it up to her.

"-want some pie?"

"NOOOOOO! I don't want any- Pie?" Webby paused and stopped swinging her fists wildly in random directions.

"...Pie? Wait, PIIIIIEEEE! PIE IS FOOD, I LOVE FOOD!" The famished little merduck lit up in sudden joy and tried dig her hands into the pie that was now only inches from her fingertips.

"YES! I accept your offer! Don't taunt me with it any longer! Gimme the PIE! GIMMIE THE PIE!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, calm down people." Fenton smiled and rubbed the back of his helmet.

"She uh- she likes pie..."

Webby's mouth began to water as the pie in question was handed over to her and she finally took a large bite out of it. Unsurprisingly, she was very hungry from Magica not giving her anything to eat for the past two days.

"Mmmmmmm! This is- This is SO GOO-" 

"-Blaaaauugh! The merduck's face turned from sweet to sour as she grimaced and spit a large mouthful of chewed up pie onto the ground.

"What kind of flavor is THIS? Shoe polish and fish sticks?!"

"It's, uhhhh, lemon meringue." Fenton slowly answered.

"...Blaaaauugh! These lemons way overachieved." Webby frowned and unintentionally threw the rest of the uneaten pie directly at her prior dunker's face. With a silent frown on his face, Gyro Gearloose stared back at her through the lemon cream and meringue with a dark black eye she had quite aggressively given to him earlier.

"You're like a somehow, brattier, miniature, Della Duck. And I don't like you. At all..." Gyro glared calmly at her without his glasses over his eyes.

"Somehow, you've gained the love and attention of Scrooge McDuck, a man I hold the utmost respect and dignity for. How?"

"...Hooooowww?!"

"Dr. Gearloose, believe me, she's usually a lot more mellow than this... Magica, she, she didn't hurt you did she?" Fenton asked as he held Webby up close to his visor.

"She kicked me in the face, tied me up so tight I got rope burns and wanted to die, gave me jelly donuts only to take them ALL AWAY, and wouldn't let me go to the STUPID, BATHROOM!" The starving little merduck paused for a moment in long built-up anger.

"I JUST LIKE JELLY DONUTS OKAY?! And her dangling them in front of my face and them stomping them all into delicious gooey pieces while rubbing it in my face, it cut deep into my soul. Somehow, she knew..."

...

"Intern, throw the punchy brat back in the tub." Gyro simply ordered as he began to turn away and Webby was lightly put back in the water before she had the chance to start choking from lack of breath again.

"W-W-WAIT! I- I saw him! Uncle Scrooge, where is he?! He- He saved me from-"

"-You mean Manny?" Gyro casually interrupted as he turned back to her. "He jumped in after you after you fell into time stream..."

"Just, doing, my job." Manny clapped in Morse code as he continued to stand tall in the Time Tub with Webby.

"...Seriously, you can't tell the difference between a man and a horse?"

"Man-Horse." Manny quickly corrected his boss.

"I WAS DYING ON A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION'S FLOOR ALRIGHT?!" Webby yelled in tired anger as she held onto the side of the tub.

"Hmmm, and I thought I had bad eye sight... Do you even stop, for a second, to take a look around, at ANY-THING? Like, ever?" Gyro asked.

"Well, maybe. What exactly am I supposed to be looking at right now? I don't see anythin-" The little merduck suddenly paused with wide open eyes as she finally snapped out of her earlier state of cluelessness to look around at the completely silent, desolate world all around her.

For as far as the eye could see, dozens and dozens of long dark motionless clouds hung in the dull red colored sky overhead, as if the flow of time itself had died along with the entire rest of the universe.

Sitting all alone on the derelict, empty beach of Duckburg bay, the Time Tub sat approximately twenty yards away from the completely still, pure red ocean, as Ma Beagle and her four sons were huddled closely nearby working together on something out of Webby's current line of sight.

All the visible buildings still standing in the city looked like they had all been burnt to a crisp for years in a blazing inferno, as Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin had long been destroyed and sunk into the depths of the bay. For some odd reason though, the speechless little merduck hadn't thought of looking up where her honorary Uncle's mansion used to sit high atop Killmotor Hill.

"...Oh no, we've all died and gone to heck." Webby stared forward sadly, surprisingly not sounding all that alarmed.

"Guess again." Gyro began, not sounding very alarmed himself. "This is the future. Our future. The complete and unadulterated Gospel truth. Quite literally, the end of the world..."

"Oh..." Webby tapped her fingers on the side of the Time Tub and looked around for a bit before speaking up again. "Do you think any bathrooms were spared?"

"Ugh. Again?" Gyro sighed. "You and your basic human needs!" 

"I'm not a human, I'm a fish, kinda... I'm not sure. And what do you mean, again? WAIT!" Webby paused and began to stutter rapidly.

"You- You, you didn't make me go already did you? While I was, NOT-SLEEPING?!"

...

"I feel like I should wash my hands just listening to this. Ugh, blathering blatherskite..." Gyro closed his eyes and lightly put his hand to his forehead. "You didn't take her?"

"Ehhh, sorry Dr. Gearloose." Fenton apologized. "There was little to no time for it, with the world ending and all. And time travel wasn't exactly an option, at the time. At that current, specific time, of course..." He quickly stuck his hands behind his back and smiled as Gyro only calmly turned back to Webby in the tub.

"...Which one?"

"I'm not sure. It's kinda hard to tell. I still haven't fully adjusted to all this fish, magical merduck stuff yet." She explained with a sheepish expression on her face.

"My urges are a bit indecisive now, it could be both. And it also feels like it could be slightly involuntary..."

"I'm, getting, out of this." Manny clapped as he began to climb out of the Time Tub before his boss interrupted with a loud cracking groan of frustration.

"UUUUuuuuuggh! Here! Just-" Gyro quickly snatched Webby out the water by her shirt and walked her over to the shoreline.

"-Just do it in the ocean! Like all the other fish do! Be one with your people!" He chucked her into sea and watched her instantly sink underneath the dense red liquid.

...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-AAAAHHH!" Webby almost immediately resurfaced in a screaming, flailing panic as her clothes had already been permanently stained bright red.

"There's something alive in HEEERRE!"

"Of course there is, it's the ocean!" Gyro quickly scooped up the violently splashing little merduck and closely examined her now pure red shirt.

"What did you expect-"

"-this isn't seawater..." He paused after smelling a familiar foul stench all over her clothes.

"It's-"

"-Blood..." Webby began breathing heavily in realization as Manny, Fenton, the four Beagles and their mother stared in silence.

"Well of course it's blood." A particularly friendly feminine voice rang out with a short giggle as a small pink horse stuck it's head out of the ocean nearby. "After all, it flows all throughout you mortal's veins and had to go somewhere..."

"What where you all expecting-" Another small horse surfaced from the blood and spit it out like a stream of water.

"-sweet tomato sauce?"

"Wait, the kelpies?" The little merduck questioned up in Gyro's grasp.

"Hi, ladies." Manny politely clapped to them.

"...Hmhmmm-hhhm?"

Hearing the familiar confused muffled voice, Webby quickly turned to see her close friend Huey Duck standing blindly amoung Ma Beagle and her four sons with his F.O.W.L. mask still locked over his eyes and into his mouth.

"Wait, Huey?"

"Sorry Gearloose, this thing's shut tighter than a steel trap, and twice as stubborn." Ma Beagle said as she roughly guided the blind duckling towards the Time Tub.

"Yeah, we even tried using magic..." Black Arts spoke sadly, as if it was obvious to the entire world that it wouldn't work.

...

"Oh, and Manny swam him back too..." Gyro quickly explained.

"Why would you care? You're the Beagle Boys, the bad guys. Wait-" the merduck paused as she began to look around for someone in particular.

"-where's... Penny?"

"Still out, like Fenton's paycheck for the next five months..." Gyro lifted up the still unconscious moonlander's head from behind the Time Tub. As expected, she was also still much younger and wearing her oversized ancient Greek garb.

"Wait, is that-" Webby quickly turned her attention up to where Killmotor Hill and Scrooge McDuck's mansion used to sit proudly in the middle of Duckburg.

"-Ithaquack?" She held her hand above her eyes to shield them from the blinding light that emanated from behind the Temple of Heroes at the top of the high island peak. Somehow, the unnatural beam of bright light didn't cast the large building's shadow down upon the small group of time travels on the desecrated beach below.

"...Okay, so my best friend Lena is a living shadow, so obviously I've done my extensive long hours of night research on how light and shadows work. So I can say one thing for certain-" Webby paused for a bit to gather her thoughts.

"-this is just plain weird."

Gyro sighed as he rubbed his feathered forehead with his fingers. "Look down, we don't have shadows, nothing has. They're all gone. Probably forever..."

"For- FOREVER?! WAIT?!" Webby stuttered before throwing herself up at Gyro and getting up close to his face in a sudden tearful emotional outburst.

"How- How can you be so SURE?! Since when have you become an expert on the poor loney absences of light of the world and the cold infinite night of the Shadow Realm?! HUH?! HOW?! TELL MEEEEEEE!"

"...Since I created a ray that controls, manipulates, and banishes them from our reality." Gyro told her in an almost emotionless tone as the little duckling turned merduck struggled to breathe heavily while trying her best to remain calm.

"Lena... Lena... Len- No Webby! Get a hold of yourself girl! You will not CRY! Graceful beautiful merducks DO NOT CRY! THEY DON'T HAVE TO! The tears from the heavens above supply you with more than ENOUGH!"

"Uh, Webby? I'm pretty sure that Lena is still safe in the pas-"

"-Lena... Lena... LENNNAAAA!" Fenton was abruptly interrupted as Webby began to silently cry with an intense scowl spread all across her messy, tired face.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH! CURSE YOU DE SPEEEEEELLL!" She cursed loudly and shrilly out into the complete, eerie silence of the desolate city of Duckburg, finishing as the loud, uncomfortable sounds of bones violently rattling and cracking could be heard from close behind her.

"...Wait what?"

Webby turned around to see the two pastel colored kelpies in the ocean began to contort and scream as if they were in severe pain and tried to cover their ears with their hooves.

"What's with you guys? All I said was- CURSE YOU DE SPEEEEEEL-"

"-QUIET!" Gyro quickly held her bill tightly shut in his hands. "I don't think they like that name!" 

"Wmmmmmnnmn- Waaugh!" The irritated little merduck pushed the adult away from her.

"Well neither do I! And you don't see me throwing a big hissy fit over hearing- CURSE YOU DE SPE- Mmnnnmmm!" Gyro quickly held her bill shut again as the screaming only grew louder and louder.

"Just... SHUT that brat up before she gets us all screamed to DEATH!" Ma Beagle yelled over the worsening screaming as she and all her sons covered their ears.

"HEY! I RESENT THAT STATEMENT!" Webby angrily yelled back. "DEFINE BRAT YOU OLD HUSSY!"

"SHUT IT CUPCAKE!" Ma Beagle slapped her in the face.

"HEY! I DARE YOU TO DO THAT TO ME AGAIN! In other, NON-SPECIFIC PLACES!"

"...MAAAAA! WE- WE NEVER CRIED LIKE THIS WHEN WE WERE ONLY LITTLE BEAGLES DID WE?!" Big Time asked as he continued to cover his ears, getting himself sharply slapped in the face by his mother.

"-WAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"AAHHH! LOOK!" The little merduck turned around in the Time Tub and pointed towards a small army of bone-dry skeletons that slowly dug themselves up out of their resting places in the sand and began to weakly stagger towards them.

"Okay, truce?" Gyro quickly held his open hand out to Webby who also gave him a silent look of panic.

"Truce..." They both shook hands. 

"...NOW GET THIS THING OUTTA HERE!" She suddenly screamed into his face.

"WE CAN'T! WE'VE RUN OUT OF FUEL!"

"Wait. NOOOOOOOOOO- Wait, what do time machines run on anyway?" Webby calmly asked.

"Gold Tech!" Gyro explained as he threw himself in the tub and behind Manny. "The Time Tub runs on Gold Tech! BUT WE'VE RUN OUT OF GOLD!"

"My mother, didn't, raise me, to be, a, man-shield!" The ghostly bipedal horse clapped.

"Ugh, seriously?!" Ma Beagle began as she marched forward and knocked away one of the screaming skeletons with her heavy purse. "You're McDuck's head scientist and Duckburg's beloved inventor! The used to be-"

"-Ughh! Richest duck in Duckburg! And you're out of gold?!"

...

"Trust me, however long you might think it took us to get here, I promose you, it took ten times as long." Gyro sighed.

"And it's all thanks to one, SILLY, little, alien..."

"Wait, THAT'S IT! Webby suddenly perked up. "We need a hero, a defender of the innocent. Someone capable and violently dependable in the most desperate times of need. We need, a warrior..."

"HEY PENNY! AUNT DELLA FORGOT TO WASH THE DISHES AGAIN!" The merduck bent down as she yelled into Penumbra's closed eyes.

"WHHAAAT?! How many Earth times do I have to tell that Earther, not to leave the Earth sustenance trays- Wait..." The young moonlander quickly sprung up off the sandy beach and to her feet in anger, pausing for a bit in confusion after taking in her dire, apocalyptic surroundings.

"Wait. WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?! What have you Earthers done to this planet?! Wait..." She stopped after realizing how short she was in comparison to everyone else around her. 

"AAAAHHH! It wasn't only a rage induced Earth dream! It was REEEAAL!"

"Uh, Penny?" Webby lightly tapped the livid moonlander on the back with her finger. 

"CURSES! Even in death she oppresses me!"

"D-Depresses?" The little merduck questioned while slightly tilting her head.

"OPPRESSES! Wait..." Penumbra suddenly paused for the third time in less than minute and turned back to face Webby, who in return only smiled and waved to her.

'Earth- Earth-" She stuttered with tears of relief in her large eyes as she threw herself at the floating little merduck in the Time Tub and hugged her tightly.

"SWEET SMOL Earth CHILD!"

"Hey, hey. Shhh, it's okay, it's okay. I'm fine." Webby closed her eyes and patted her crying moonlander friend on the back to comfort her.

"Yes, I love you too..."

...

"Intern, FiiiIIIIIIRE!" With an audibly cracking shrill voice, Gyro cautiously stuck his head out from behind Manny and pointed at the still screaming and crying mass of dry skeltons lurching ever-so-slowy towards them.

"Uhh, Yes. YES! Right! Fire. Uh, fire what?" Fenton asked.

"Just, THINK OF THINGS! ANY-THINGS!"

"R-Right! Any, things." From inside the tough, burly armor of the Gizmosuit, the Latin intern simply punched the front compartment of it, only causing a single fresh pie to weakly be shot out onto the ground in front of him.

"Nuts..."

"...UUUuuuuGGH! YOU'RE GIZMODUCK! YOU'RE WORSE THAN THIS! BLOW THEM ALL UP! Think, MILDLY destructive THOUGHTS!" Gyro ordered very loudly as he shook Fenton about from inside the Time Tub.

"Dr. Gearloose, nobody on Earth except Launchpad could be reckless and destructive as-"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

With a fierce, all too familiar battle cry and a reved-up barely functioning chainsaw in his hands, a tall hooded figure suddenly dashed out from behind the small army of mournfully wailing skeletons on the beach and crashed into them, somehow taking them all out in a single unskilled swipe and returning the world to complete silence as the chainsaw finally ran out of gas and died.

"...Oop." The two kelpies in the ocean stopped screaming and submerged themselves back down into the thick blood below.

"Wait... What?!" Webby questioned as she and everyone else except Huey stared surprised down at the unmoving, slient, ragged figure in front of them.

"So, uh..." Penumbra began as she tapped her fingers together. "Should we do something about the buff hot dead man lying on our turf, or?" 

Webby's eyes wided. "...WHAT?!"

"Oh hey guys!" The large hooded figure quickly stood to his feet and pulled his hood off his head with a smile.

"Wait. LAUNCHPAD?!" Webby, Gyro, and Fenton all exclaimed in perfect unison, as Manny didn't say a single word.

"Hhhhmm?" The duckling dressed in red only shook his head and shrugged.

"Oh Hey Huey. Whoa! Neat tub! I was wondering when you guys would show up." The shabby looking tall pilot walked around as everyone else was speechless and Huey was still under disciplinary time-out from his F.O.W.L. mask.

"I've been waiting for days and days and days and days, or was it weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks, or was it years and years and-"

"-Wait wait wait wait. Hold it! Hold it! HOLD IT!" Webby held up her hand to Launchpad's scruffy bill.

"Launchpad, you survived the end of the world? All by yourself? WITHOUT HELP?!"

...

"Not without help!" The pilot perked up and pulled out a fancy cracked golden plate filled with cockroaches from behind his back.

"Meet Crash, Smash, Bash, Car Crash, Plane Crash, Wreck, Pile Up, Head-on Collision, Takedown, Fender-Bender, Sideswipe, Gotta Call a Tow Truck, Why You Need An Attorney, and Arnie! Say hey Arnie!"

"Hey Arnie." The cockroach squeaked to them in soft insect dialect.

"He's nice..." Launchpad gently patted Arnie's head.

"...WELP! The clueless pilot leaped into the water filled Time Tub with a splash. "I promised the guys I'd show them around the mansion after we got back. Off, to the past."

"Hey! Get out! You're dirtying up my invaluable source of life!" Webby quickly tried to push him out of the tub.

"But, isn't that why you're here? To take me back to the past?"

"Launchpad, what are you talking about?" Fenton asked.

"You see, this huge time storm came down on Mr. McDee's mansion while Louie and me were busy hiding his time treasures all around and stuff, and it was all stormy and stuff, and it sure was nice of the Beagle Boys to help you guys out!"

"Trust me, we never would..." Ma Beagle growled as she slowly turned away.

"...Wait, THIS is the future you went TOO?!" Webby gasped, remembering the night the El Pato Timephoon hit her Uncle Scrooge's mansion.

"But- But I thought-"

"-It's time travel, don't overthink it kid." Gyro ruffled her wet head feathers as she closed her eyes.

"No. I- I mean- Okay, okay! Let's see if we can take a quick recap here. Ahem." The little merduck cleared her throat after diving down into the now slightly Launchpad-dirtied water and resurfacing.

"So first, I got kidnapped by, you know who, and got taken to, you know where. And then two days later, you guys come from the future, the past, to rescue me. And then we end up in the future, where we are now, where the world has ended, where Launchpad was sent to from the past, and where he eventually gets sent back to the past. And we also picked up a currently unexplained, possibly alternate timeline evil future Huey, that works for The Fiendish Organization for World Larceny, which leads us all here. Have I got this all right?"

"...Buh?" Launchpad tilted his head.

"So, what happened to past, future me, and Lena? Both of her? The stuff Penumbra said while we were still in that mansion. Penny, can you repeat all tha- Penny?" Webby paused after noticing the young moonlander eyeing her close pilot friend in an unusual, adoring silence.

"Penny?"

"...Haah, you're everything I've ever Earth DREAMED!" Penumbra suddenly dove forward in unrequited precocious love and tightly hugged Launchpad by the leg.

"So, uh, who's your friend?"

"Don't worry, you'll meet her again eventually..." Webby simply told him.

"How could I have been so blind?! You're perfection! Complete Earth born perfection!"

"Uhhhhh-"

"-Let's get MARRIED!" The moonlander clinged tighter onto Launchpad's leg as the rusty cogs in his brain continued to turn.

...

"I'm like, thirty. And you?"

"I don't know, and I don't CARE! JUST LET ME WORSHIP YOU!" Penumbra smiled wildly with her eyes closed as she hugged him.

"...Woof."

"Huh? I guess Penny has a thing for the tough, gruff, tall hero types. Heh, who knew... Wait-" Webby paused for a bit while looking over the shiny, cockroach covered tray behind behind the pilot.

"-That, that plate. Is that made of gold?!"

"Huh?" Launchpad stood still as the little merduck snatched the plate away from him.

"Where did you find this?! Is it made out of gold, or- or is it just gold plated? Where is Louie when you need him?"

"Oh, I found it outside that big mansion up there. The folks living in it just threw it out the window. Crashed it like a pro..."

"Launchpad, that's a temple. The Temple of Heroes. You know! Ithaquack, The home of the gods! Zeus, Selene, Storkules! All of them!" Webby explained to her friend.

"But- But is it really made of gold? You don't suppose actual living gods would settle for the cheap stuff instead of the real deal would ya?"

"Ugh... Here, give it to me!" An impatient Ma Beagle quickly swiped away the plate from the merduck's hands and sniffed it.

"Uuuggh. Revolting little pests." She lightly shook the cockroaches off the plate.

"Well Ma, is it really made of gold?" Big Time excitedly asked, getting himself smacked in the face with the cracked plate and following with a loud clang.

"YOOWWWWAAAHH-"

"-It's made of gold."

"Thank the- I'm tired of spending time with you clowns!" Ma Beagle marched over to Gyro and handed him the gold plate. "Here's your time fuel, now take us outta here..."

...

"No." The half-blind scientist crossed his arms. "Not only will we need way more gold than that to get us back to our own time, but you're the head of all organized crime in Duckburg. You cost our city thousands and thousands of dollars a month because of your constant looting. Now tell me, why should we REALLY take you five along. Just because you MIGHT have dealt the final blow to, you know who?"

"The man's got a point." Manny clapped in agreement.

"Dr. Gearloose, we could just take them all to prison after we get back. They may be hardened criminals, but they really don't deserve to die here all alone..." Fenton said.

"...Well, it looks like you have two choices." The proud criminal mother of the Beagke clan began as she turned and walked away with a smirk.

"You could take us along with you, no problems. Or-" Webby and Fenton audibly gasped as Ma Beagle stood aside to reveal Huey struggling blindly in Bouncer Beagle's massive hands.

"-you could leave us all behind as we keep this red hatted little nerd with us as a hostage... But don't worry, we won't harm him. I just wonder how well suited he would be in surviving in this barren wasteland without being able to see. Or, eat..."

"Dr. Gearloose, it's Huey." The little merduck began. "He may be on the side of evil, but I know him. Dispite his obsessive controlling nature, he means well."

"We accept." Both Webby and Fenton said in unison.

"...WHAAAT?!" Gyro started to freak out. "I'M IN CHARGE HERE! END OF STORY! What I say goes! You are all, BENEATH ME-"

"-Hhhhgh- Hhhhuugh!" Huey barely managed to say as he weakly punched and kicked about as he was held off the sandy beach by the front of his cold mask.

"Me too." The scientist accepted defeat.

"...You're all a lot smarter than you look." Ma Beagle turned around and smiled. "Bouncer, drop em'."

"Hhhhmmnnulllugh." The blind young duckling struggled to speak as he was lightly dropped to the ground and lifted quickly back up in the air by Gyro.

"Still, who would actually be lucky and rich enough to own and throw out something as valuable as this, at a- a time like this? This being the literal end of the world, I mean..." Fenton pondered as Webby just gasped.

"The gods! They're immortal! They must have survived and moved to Duckburg! ...On, top of my Uncle Scrooge's mansion of all places." The little merduck paused.

"And since that we're their closest friends, they should be more than happy to help us out! Selene is nice, and Storkules is a pure-hearted sweetheart! I'm sure they'll let us borrow all the gold plates we need! LET'S, GOOOOOO-"

"-No..." Gyro sternly interrupted.

"Alright, so you may not be as empty-headed as I thought, so hopefully you'll clearly understand my reasoning here. YOU, ARE, NOT, GO-ING."

"...OKAY." Webby smiled.

"Wait what?" Gyro suddenly questioned his hearing.

"Well obviously you're right. I'm a merduck now, so I don't have legs to walk with, and I'll quickly die without water, and it would also take you guys twice as long to carry me all the way up in the Time Tub. Lena is waiting for me, so okay!" The merduck fully rebmerged herself in the water and swam circles around Manny's legs.

"I'll stay..."

"...Next time, warn me before you say something actually intelligent. You almost gave me a heart attack. Okay, alright team!" Gyro clapped.

"Gizmoduck, Manny, Beagles, McDuck's pilot, you're with me. Penumbra, you stay behind and watch after the kids-" He paused after turning to the young moonlander still clinging onto Launchpad's leg and sighed with his hand on his forehead.

"Since your obviously not going to let go anytime soon, and that I woudn't trust this crash-happy pilot very much in child safety, alright!" The scientist clapped again. "Who wants to volunteer?"

...

Without making a single sound, Big Time's three much taller brother stood behind and not so obviously held his right hand up in the air.

"You, stand here." Gyro simply pointed towards the ground.

"WHAAAT?! But, but but but I- I- I can't be a babysitter!" The short Beagle started to become indignant. "I've- I've never sat before in my life!"

"...Big Time's right, he can't be a babysitter." Ma Beagle agreed with a nod. "He can hardly take care of himself."

"Phew! Thanks Ma."

"Cupcake, you take care of him." She ordered.

"Wait. Cupcake?" Webby questioned as she swam back to the top of the tub.

"You..." Ma Beagle pointed to the confused little merduck in the Time Tub before she turned and began to walk away.

"...WHAAAT?! But, but but but Ma! I- I- I can take care of kids! I even used to be one myself!"

"I feel for you." Manny clapped to him with sympathy as he climbed out of the tub and followed after Gyro and everyone else.

"G-G-Guys, seriously! Just, give me a chance! I can do right! Just give me a chance!"

"Talk to the hand..." His mother spoke to him in a dismissive tone without even caring enough to look back.

"See ya!" Launchpad McQuack turned to wave goodbye as Penumbra continued to tightly cling onto his leg.

"Okay then, fine! I'll show her, I'll show em' all! I'll show EVERYBODY! I going to be the best darn babysitter you little brats will ever have in your dang lives!" Big Time yelled as he hopped up to grab Webby by the front of her shirt.

"...Hopefully, we'll live long enough for you to prove it."

"Hmmm-hhhm." Huey agreed with a nod.

...

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH-"

"-Hey!" The little merduck interrupted the Beagle Boy's brief temper tantrum with a quick slap the side of his face.

"OW! What do you want you little dessert?!"

"Do you think you could like, I dunno, dig a little hole in the sand for me?"

"...WHAT?!"


	22. The Once and Future Goose (and Goddess!)

...

"This just in! This is Roxanne Featherly, reporting live from the scene of the recent crash site here in Duckburg. McDuck Manor, crushed completely flat, underneath the once ominously floating right above us, legendary island of Greek gods, deities, heroes, and myths alike, Ithaquack."

"Just barely escaping with their lives, Scoorge McDuck and his family and have most COWARDLY fled our fair city of Duckburg in fear, flying off towards the dark, unknown, horizons. But in the end, will it even matter? Can the riches of the richest duck in the world, save him from the mass of death and destruction the he has ultimately brought down upon all of us?"

"As you can see, the current supernatural disaster of unspeakable shadowy horrors Scrooge McDuck has left behind, what local reporters and journalists are calling, the Shadowpocalypse, continues to only grow bigger and bigger, swallowing all within it's terrifying veil."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we may very well be witnessing with our own eyes, at THIS very moment, The End of the World as We Know It..."

"...Joining me live, the CEO of Waddle, beloved Duckburg billionaire and entrepreneur, your friend and mine, Mark Beaks!"

"Mr. Beaks, any comments on the occurring cataclysmic situation taking place right before our very eyes?"

...

"Mr. Beaks?"

"Mr. Beaks?"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE STAND BY- AAAAAAAAHHH-"

...

"This just in! This is Roxanne Featherly, reporting live from the-"

"-You see, this is just what I was talking to Mr. McDee about! Having total and complete commitment to your job, not letting any dents or minor distractions throw you off- Hey, is that a beefy well built nude statue of Mr. Dee? Whoa! Cooooool!"

"Nice, head." Manny the Headless Man-Horse clapped in Morse code as Launchpad McQuack stopped waving his hand in front of a long dead skeleton reporter's face and quickly ran up to a tall muscular statue of Donald Duck. Complete with a plaster fig leaf and a victorious pose as he stood proudly outside the Temple of Heroes high atop the silent peak of Ithaquack.

"Keeping it all together, and never letting a few wrecked snack stands or crashes get you down!"

"...A few?" Fenton parked inside the Gizmoduck armor close beside Dr. Gearloose waited patiently for an explanation.

"Hundred." Launchpad nodded with a somewhat vague and zoned out expression on his face.

"Hundred?"

"Thousand... Hundred thousand..." The tall rugged pilot calmly confirmed.

"...The snack stands or the crashes?" Fenton questioned as Gyro just crossed his arms, looking mildly disappointed in both of them at the moment.

"Well, the wreck always comes after the crash, and then the fire, then smoke, then ambulance. It is hazardous, and I believe, counterproductive, to become frozen in time by an obsession with past wrongs and crashes." Launchpad was sure to speak slowly to make it all sound more important.

"...Not even being dead?" The Latin intern asked after a moment of dull complete silence.

"Haven't made it to that one yet..." The pilot scratched his chin as Penumbra only continued to let herself get dragged around behind him by his leg.

"HA! Not only is he Earth strapping and well-fortified, he's also philosopher! It's all too good to be clever farce!" Penumbra smiled and hugged him tighter.

"Uugh. Why does Mr. McDuck even keep you around anyway?" Gyro finally asked. "If someone that worked for me was as reckless and clumsy as you, I would have already long-" The scientist suddenly paused before leaning in closer to Fenton.

"-AS."

"Because, I'm a good freind? I'm strong dependable and fearless? I'm real good at putting out FIRE?" Launchpad asked quite excitedly.

"Don't forget strapping and fortified!" The young lovestruck moonlander quickly added.

Gyro frowned. "...Minimum-wage?"

"THAAAT'S the one! Oh, and also, he's a good guy. Treats his employees just as good as his friends and family."

"Hmmm. Well that would explain a lot about Webby." Gyro continued. "I hate to say this, but I'm afraid Mr. Duck and his so-called, FAMILY must be seriously neglecting her, and his nephews. Forcing them to work for him and taking them on dangerous globe-trotting adventures all the time."

"...I'm telling you. That poor, WIIDLY violent child, is FAR, from normal... She would be a lot better off living with an ACTULLY, normal, non-adventure family for once. Especially one that isn't currently fueding with a century old evil shadow sorceress that wants to butcher and most likely eat them all, and if she doesn't end up being sent high up the river first..."

"Oh no, you got it all wrong. Webby is nice, so is Mrs. B. They're both nice." Launchpad reassured with a smile. "Everyone has their own normal, that's what makes us all equally special you know?"

"...Still, you'd think Mr. McDuck would permanently retire from the whole adventuring thing after Della got lost in space for over a decade." Gyro began with a not so subtle scowl across his face.

"Now I know that this may be, NONE of MY business, but he's the richest DUCK, in the WORLD. It's not like he HAS to continue getting richer and richer and richer through mindless treasure hunting... And if it wasn't for a certain brilliant scientist in particular, who shall remain nameless and knew exactly how ireponsble and reckless that literal womanchild of a pilot actually is, she wouldn't have survived five minutes. D-E-A-D, DEAD!"

"...His parents, never gave him a name?!" Launchpad began to get overly emotional all of the sudden. "But- But how- how did his friends and family sing him Happy Birthday? Did he even have friends?! Did they all remain nameless too?! What about his dog?! EVERY BOY HAS GOT TO HAVE A DOG! YOU'VE GOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS DOG MAN!"

...

"Why did I think it would even be possible to have an intelligent conversation with you? Uuughhh. Where do you think this came from?" Gyro sighed and pointed to his black eye which had only gotten more visible and painful over time.

"Oh, and Widget died years ago. And it's not like he was a good boy and a close friend who helped his owner through some of the most difficult parts of his life and showered him with unconditional love and cuddles or anything. And that driver DEFINITELY didn't keep on going dispite his owner running after him with tears in his eyes and badly scrapped himself or anything. All that, DEFINITELY, never, happened..."

"...You, didn't crash the tub?" Launchpad questioned.

"Webby. Webby did it." The scientist quickly replied.

"Webby crashed the tub?!"

"NO YOU ABSOLUTE AIRHEAD! SHE PUNCHED ME! That, NICE, little, fish girl of yours, PUNCHED ME!" Gyro blurted out loudly in frustration.

"...No, you're- you're wrong! She would never! And- And definitely not on purpose!"

"Launchpad, he's not making it up. She actually did punch him. And trust me, it, definitely wasn't an accident..." Fenton slowly explained while looking a little awkward.

"Uhhhhh- Maybe she, uhhhhh..." Launchpad rubbed the back of his neck and looked around.

"Blah, I don't need your sentiment." The irritated scientist's voice was almost low as a whisper.

"Maybe your right. Maybe she IS, just a little cranky. Maybe she IS just, WILDLY misunderstood! But until she proves she's more than just a threat to all our personal safety and that's she's not going to try kill us all in flying juvenile rage, she's getting noooo sympathy from me..."

* * *

...

"Uh, Bigtime?"

"Bigtime Beagle?"

"...MR. BIGTIME?!"

"What?!" A short Beagle Boy quickly stuck his head up and out of a deep, cramped hole on the sandy beach. "You wanted me to dig you a hole, I'm digging you a hole!"

"I said a LITTLE hole. I'm not THAT un-constipated!" Webby said as leaned far out of the Time Tub with Huey standing blindly close beside her on the sand.

"Ha! Bigtime don't do little, Bigtime does big time... I don't even know the meaning the word little!" Bigtime climbed back down into the hole and continued digging deeper with his bare hands, weakly tossing the loose sand out of the dark, lonely hole.

"I don't find that hard-" The little merduck raised her finger as she began to speak again but soon stopped herself and sighes after realizing how cliche it actually was.

"...Bigtime? I know we're enemies and all, and how much we hate each other, and that I literally bashed you over the head with a pizza, but I don't think-"

"-SHUT IT PINKY, DANGIT! I'M DIGGING!" The Beagle Boy yelled back, seconds before the hole collapsed in on itself and immediately buried him alive.

"AAAAAAAAHHH-"

"-Is everything okay down there?" Webby asked calmly in genuine concern as Huey began to grow visibly anxious from the sudden yelling and screaming just barely loud enough to hear from a far distance.

"It's okay Huey, it's okay." She hugged her friend's head and gently patted him.

* * *

...

"He doesn't count..." Gyro crossed his arms before Ma Beagle gently pulled him aside and away from the direction of the far-off, desolate beach.

"Let's just grab that gold already and hightail it out of here. I've got an entire damfool gang of cutthroat thugs and a junkyard full of garbage to manage. And it ain't gonna get by long all by itself. The one thing you can be sure about trash, it ain't fussy." She paused to dust off her hat and sigh deeply as she placed it back on her head. "Bless their sorry little hearts..."

"Way ahead of ya Ma!"

"...What do you morons think your doing?!" Ma Beagle turned around and asked angrily as Bouncer Beagle held Burger and Black Arts up to a high window on the outside wall of the temple.

"What the Beagle Boys do best! Casing the joint." The muscular Beagle Boy replied cheerfully.

"Save your socially inept lack skills." Their tired mother frowned crossly. "Any deity or highfalutin' supreme being willing to lower themselves to the ten-cent level of the McDucks and get friendly with them can't be all that bright in my book..."

"...Now you've got it!" Launchpad suddenly spoke up brightly.

"Huh?"

"Uh, what I meant to say is, that's correct!" The pilot smiled quite cluelessly as Gyro, Fenton, and Ma Beagle just stared at him in immense bewilderment.

"...Thank you." She finally replied.

"Now, we knock the door, grab the loot, kindly wave goodbye, and get the heck out of this godforsaken bloody hellhole of death and broken dreams..."

"Overdramatic much?" Manny clapped.

"...What he'd say? Ma Beagle asked after a bit of complete apocalyptic silence.

"OVERDRAMATIC, MUCH?" The ghostly horse clapped twice again.

"He said good plan." Gyro calmly comfirmed for her with a nod.

"Thank you..."

"WHY?!" Manny wondered loudly in great distress.

"Except for ONE, LITTLE, thing." The scientist began. "We sneak in and grab the gold instead. As I'm not too sure if we can trust these, pantheonic FRIENDS of Mr. McDuck... But otherwise, great plan."

"...Thank yo- UUUUGGH! All this thanking people and kindness is starting to make me sick! Boys! Let's roll!" Ma Beagle ordered and began to march towards the temple door.

"Hmmm, great. We sneak in and grab the gold. And you first. Maybe I'm wrong, but this one seems RIIIGHT up your alley..." Gyro spoke with a noticeable about of dry sarcasm in his voice.

"Uggh! Seriously?! We're the thieves here! I just want to uncomplicate things and get us out of here as fast as possible. And you want to rob the dang place?!" Ma Beagle continued to only grow more and more frustrated.

"If I say we sneak in and grab the gold, we sneak in and grab the gold. It's as simple as that..."

"UUUGH! What idiot put you in charge?!" She asked as she got up in the equally annoyed scientist's face.

"...How can you be so sure an IDIOT put me in charge anyway? Why couldn't it have been your average, intelligent, criminally misunderstood, shockingly handsome brilliant young scientist plus genius kid inventor that-" Gyro paused in sudden self-realization.

"So I'll tell what IDIOT put me in charge. I did. I'm the IDIO-"

"-Launchpad. Launchpad put me in charge. He's the idiot. And definitely not me."

"I'm sorry, what now? Whhaaah-aaah-" The rugged pilot in question quickly lost his balance as he looked back and accidentally pressed the surprisingly non-inconspicuous golden doorbell to the temple.

Ding-Dong! The doorbell chimed out loudly in the unearthly silence of the lifeless universe just before Gyro could shrilly help to interrupt it.

"NOOOOOOO!"

...

"...You're right Gearloose. I'll admit it, I was a just being a stubborn old fool. We really should sneak in and grab the loot." Ma Beagle stopped to smile wickedly at him. "Because I'm ABSOLUTELY sure, nobody in there heard any of that."

"RrrrrrrrhhghrhaaaAAAAHHH-"

"-YOOOOOOOU! UUHHHH-WHAA?! Hands off you internal inferiors! And I'll fire you BOTH!" Gyro tried his best to fight off Fenton and Manny in anger as they tightly held him back.

"Uh, don't you mean, or you'll fire us both-"

"-DROP HIM." Manny interrupted with a quick set of claps as his boss was dropped hard onto the rocky ground below him.

"...THAT'S IIITT! Interns, your both, FIIIiiiiiRED! Just as soon as we get home."

"Dr. Gearloose, don't you think that you might be overreacting, just a little bit-"

"-You can't fire me. I, quit!" The Headless Man-Horse clapped before walking towards Ma Beagle and stading tall and upright besides her. Pulling out a black criminal mask from out of nowhere like she and her sons where all wearing, he tied it around his head and over his expressionless, stony glare.

"I prefer, the bad guys, anyway." He simply clapped.

"Well now. Welcome to the gang." The proud matriarch of the Beagle family smiled and shook his hoof.

"Manny..." Fenton felt betrayed.

...

"Ah-hem-hem! Ahem." A tired, tuxedo wearing figure cleared his scratchy throat as he suddenly stood in the now open doors of the temple. Although everyone else there had no clear idea of exactly who they were looking at at the moment, Launchpad recognized him immediately and stood up with Penumbra still clinging onto him and smiled.

The tall, bored, bearded King of The Gods, The God of Hospitality, thunder, and petty childish pride, stared forward in visible indignation while looking like had long given up on his boring, immortal life.

"Oh hey Zeus, good to see ya pal. So uh, are us weary travels welcome in your humble abode?"

"...Oh boy, how does this go?" The Greek god cleared his throat again before magically summoning a twenty dollar bill with something written on it in his hand and read it aloud.

"Welcome weary travelers to our humble abode. Wait, whaat?"

"Aww gee! Thanks pal! Glad there's no hard feeling between us. As I always say, it's always best to just forget and forgive. Or was it forgive and forget? I forget..." Launchpad stared forward blankly as he continued to slowly shake Zeus' hand.

"...Well I'll BE-agle darned." Ma Beagle quietly whispered to herself.

*quick thunderstorm transition*

* * *

...

"Hey Ma, look at this!" Black Arts said as he held up a small golden figure of a seductive busty rabbit to his mother.

"You pinhead! Put it back!"

"Hey Ma! Take a little gander at this!" Bouncer said as he held up a king-sized, green vevlot comfy couch with matching fluffy pillows.

"You bird-brain! Drop it!"

...Thud!

"Hhrhhrrhrheeyh." Burger said as he excitedly ran up with a polished silver snack tray in his hands and emitted only inconsistent incoherent rambling.

"...Knucklehead!" His very irritated mother slapped him in the face.

"But- But Ma. I- I thought-"

"-Hasn't anyone told you no account fools that's it's impolite to rob your own dang hosts?!" Ma Beagle quickly interrupted her clueless, dark stage magician son. "We're not just simple ornery thieves. We're the Beagles! Which makes you, the Beagle Boys! My boys! So NIP IT! NIP ALL IT IN THE BUD! You got that?!"

Standing motionless in the expansive, red carpeted, gold and diamond studded elegant parlor, the three Beagle Boys exchanged similar fearful expressions before quickly sticking their hands hidden behind their backs.

"Good..." Their mother paused before turning to walk away.

"...Too bad Big Time's busy watching after the McDuck kids back on the beach, he'd love this place." Bouncer causally mentioned as he and his brothers followed close behind.

"You mean he'd love to rob it?" Gyro asked.

"Uuuhhh." Ma Beagle stopped in her tracks and sighed. "If you can't run with the big Beagles, stay underneath the porch. And unfortunately in that complete idiot Big Time's case, he took my advice quite literally..."

"Mr. McDee said I had the same problem. Not too sure what he meant by it though." Launchpad paused to think back for a bit. "And that angry injured DRIVE-through manager was a real nice guy, once you got to know him."

...

"Launchpad, you didn't really-"

"-Didn't really what now?" The pilot stared confused back at Fenton as Manny only stepped aside into the corner of the room and then turned back around.

"Keeping, my, safe, distance." He clapped on the floor.

"Ah-hem-hem-hem!" Zeus loudly cleared his throat to attract the temple guest's attention.

"...Speaking of Gander, the man of the house, shall greet you now."

* * *

From inside the large temple room that once used to be Charybdis', the guardian of the Spear of Poseidon's chamber, hot cloudy steam and the overpowering scent of fresh lavender wafted out into the rest of The Temple of the Lucky Goose like a warm spring breeze as the doors to the room where pushed open and the guests made their way inside.

"Uhhh, gizmo-wipers, activate..." Fenton said as the Gizmosuit's helmet visor had already been steamed up from the humid air.

"Hold it, didn't you lose all your memory about being Gizmoduck back in the past? HOW did you know that the Gizmosuit even had those?" Gyro asked with an aloof frown as he watched mini windshield wipers appear and slowly wipe away all the condensation clean off the visor.

"...I read the manual." Fenton held up a black gizmo-thumb and smiled.

"Hold it, HOW did you know that the Gizmosuit even had a manual?"

"...I found the secret compartment." He smiled and held the same heroic thumb upwards.

"Hold it, HOW did you know that the Gizmosuit even had a-"

"-Would you just, STOOPP?! Wait-" Fenten paused as he glanced over the a large muscular divine figure giving someone a parctically rough and violent massage on a portable massage table.

"Oooh- Stork baby, a little lower. No, a little higher. No, a little lower again. No, just a little higher..."

"Oh valiant Gladstone! Your muscles be as tense and rigid as fallen King Homer's courageous odyssey through time and infinite danger! Oh my titans, thats twas was most incredulity corny of me..." The massive massager said most regretfully before gently tipping his relaxed employer into the mineral-rich heated spa and rolled the table away.

Floating flat on his back in his green accented bathrobe in the deep warm water, the mysterious figure was slowly carried around in circles by two hippie dressed bored merducks and then lifted up and out of spa by a couple of similarly tired-out harpies.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh..." The figure stood upright with his eyes closed and lazily snapped his fingers together, instantly blow-drying his bathrobe and feathers completely dry with an unseen magical blast of air.

"-WHAT?!" Fenton finally finished while still in clear disbelief.

"When my public named me lucky they weren't just awoofin'. Ah, L.P., Dr. Gearloose, weary travelers, the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, been wondering when you'd show up, how's the end of the world been treatin' ya?" The figure asked after opening his eyes and walking towards his guests with a carefree smile.

"MAN, HORSE!" Manny angrily corrected.

"Just hunky dory..." Ma Beagle calmly replied, suddenly looking much more cross than usual.

...

"I wanna a massage! Ooow!" Black Arts yelped as his mother sharply slapped him on the back the head.

"...Welcome, to our humble abode, a literal Elysium of peace and tranquility in these trying times. The Temple, of the Lucky Goose. And that Goose would be, well, yours truly. Gladstone Gander." The Goose stood back as motivational clapping and cheering could be heard coming from out of nowhere.

"We've got plenty of rooms, food, drinks, entertainment, infinte song requests from the lovey miss Harp of Mervana, every-thing. You can all stay as long as you want, completely free of charge and obligation. As money is, well, worthless now anyway... Ain't I just the best?" Gladstone asked with a noticeable smug grin spread across his bill.

"...He's got horns holding up his halo." Ma Beagle slowly shook her head while looking very clearly displeased.

"But, there's only ONE rule. The most important rule of all."

"Because, uh, it's the only rule, right?" Launchpad asked.

"Right. Never, under ANY circumstances EVER, say, THIS, name..." The Goose quickly handed the pilot a twenty dollar bill with a certain familiar name scribbled on it.

"...Gotcha."

"Well, what's the name?" Gyro asked as he tried to take a quick peek at it.

"What? Do you think I'm stupid or something?" Launchpad said as he held the note far back away from Gyro. "He just told me NOT to say the name, and you expect me to just say it? Please."

"But- But you could just show-"

"-HHmph!" He quickly ripped the bill apart and let the pieces scatter and fall to the damp floor.

"...HA! That's my MAN!" Penumbra cheered as he continued to tightly hug Launchpad's leg.

"Ha-ha-ha. Weird looking kid you got there." Gladstone chuckled.

"Ha-ha-ha yeah. I'm not even one hundred percent sure WHAT she is. Pretty sure she's some kind of shell-less turtle."

...

"I'm most certainly not a some kind of shell-less turtle you most beautiful hunk man." The young moonlander suddenly began to think straight and clearly again.

"Launchpad, Penumbra is a moonlander, Della's friend. She's native to the Moon." Fenton tried his best to explain.

"Moon what now?" Launchpad looked perplexed.

"Uhh. An alien..."

"...Wait, AN- AN ALIEN?! Is- Is she the reason why the world ended and has gone all bad?! Is- Is Della in on this too?!" The pilot paused and gasped dramatically.

"WHAT ABOUT MR. DEE? IS HE A PRISONER OF THE MOON?! ALIENS INVADERS FROM THE MOON INVADED US AND TOOK ALL OUR FLESH?! UUUUUUHHH!" Launchpad gasped loudly again as everyone in the room just stared awkwardly at him in silence.

"A MOONVASION?!"

"...Oh yes. I can confirm that actually, yes, she is." Gyro slowy pushed Launchpad away from him. "But we stop them in the end, don't freak out or anything. I hate to see a grown, man-child, cry like this."

"Oh. Neat!"

"...Okay. Now, getting back to me, I think, the true reason for living is when-" Gladstone stopped to stick his hands in his bathrobe and pull out a single polished dime from his pocket. "-Whoa! What do you know! Just found a dime. Ha, lucky!" He flipped the silver coin up in the air and back into his pocket.

"I'm sure it'll come in handy later. Ha-ha-ha..." The Goose smiled and then paused with a perfectly confident expression on his face

"How about dinner?"

* * *

...

"MMMMmmm! MMMMmmm-mmmm! Oh, Selene, Selene. This is great, this is great. Delicious. My compliments to the chef." Gladstone spoke with his mouth full and wiped his bill with the fancy tablecloth spread across the long dinner table.

"Thank you Mr. Gladstone..." The Goddess of Moon quietly thanked him and set down an empty serving tray.

Sitting awkwardly at the other side of the table and behind a straight row of lit red candles, Ma Beagle and her three sons sat alone in their chairs and occasionally glanced at each other while watching their host loudly gobble down his golden plate full of food while a short stubby pegasus played a soft heavenly song on a harp.

"...What, even is that?" She finally asked.

"Mmmm-Mmmm. I don't know. Selene, what is this?" The goose asked with food still in his mouth.

Selene sighed and forced herself to smile. "Fried Frogman Legs and Ducky Mountain Oysters..."

"Oysters huh? Well that doesn't sound so bad..." Ma Beagle lightly tapped one of the Oysters with her finger.

"It's actually minotaur testes." The Moon goddess kindly explained as Ma Beagle sat speechless in disgust and Burger slowly reached over the table to grab a handful to eat.

"...HOLD IT!" She suddenly slapped his hand away. "Ain't no sons of mine are eating any dang bovine knackers! We'll skip straight to desert."

"Oh, please do!" Selene lit up in joy as she hugged the empty tray flat to her chest. "We've got Grape Jelly Donuts, Chocolate Lava, and Glazed Moon Cakes!"

"...It's not made with pieces off the actual Moon if that's what thinking. And chocolate, molten lava, isn't, a real thing. Although I wish it was. Sorry."

...

"Oh, wow. Jelly donuts and Latin style seafood!" Fenton rubbed his gizmo-hands together and looked over the large spread of many gourmet dishes in front on him, as Manny only starred silently down at his small meal of unseasoned, freeze-dried hay, unsure of exactly how he was going to eat it. "This is great! But we should really take a doggie bag back to Webby though. She seemed very, VERY, hungry."

"Oh, the little kid girl is here too?" Gladstone casually asked as he reclined back in his chair and laid his feet up on the table.

"Yeah. I- I think she was starving. And possibly even badly hurt..." Fenton mentioned while sounding a little sad for her.

"...Whoa now, a starving hurt little girl? Hmmmm. Can't have that." Gladstone slowly lifted up his feathered right hand in the air with his eyes closed and snapped his fingers.

* * *

...

"Hey."

"Hey." Big Time slowly spoke back to Webby as they both stared up at the temple high atop Ithaquack.

"...Wanna, talk about something?"

...

"Not-specially." The short Beagle Boy said without looking down.

...

"So, uh. How's it like to have siblings, and a mother?" Webby asked, hanging her arms limlpy out of the Time Tub and gently swayed them about.

"I don't have any parents, or any brothers or sisters either. My British granny has taken care of me my whole life..."

"Uugh, just go and tell me about it." Big Time began and started pacing around the beach in anger. "Having a family is the absolute worst! They boss you around, slap you, always looking down at you, tell you that you and your plans aren't dang good enough! They always be puttin' ya down. They treat you like a- a- a criminal!"

"...Maybe because you're, a, a runt?" Webby balanced her elbows on Huey's cap and supported her head up with her hands. "You know, looking down at you. Be- Because, you're- you're, a little little?"

...

"I AIN'T A LITTLE LITTLE! I'm big Beagle! A Big Time! WHY DOES EVERYBODY KEEP CALLING ME LITTLE?!"

Webby blinked.

"Has it ever occurred to you that not everyone and everything in the world isn't like, giant? And that you might be, just a little, on the, puny side?"

...

"Whoa. You dun just shattered my entire perception of reality." Big Time suddenly looked frightened in a big wide world full of danger and strangers.

"If- If I ain't Big Time, then- then who am I? Am I-" The enlightened Beagle Boy gulped. "-Small Time? Then- Then- Then I-"

"Do you suppose, that this is kinda like an metaphor for life?" Webby started simultaneously talking over Big Time as Huey began to uncomfortably tug at his mask in the dark.

"No matter what we do, no matter how much we accomplish, it will all be forgotten about in the end and no one can do a thing about it? Are we all, just tiny black and white set pieces in a dark depressing chess match of the gods in a world full of only pain, hunger, heartbreak, unanswered questions, and inescapable personal loss and regret?"

"-and that I always needs a booster seat." Big Time finished, prompting Webby to stare back at him in silence as her stomach growled.

"What?"

...

"Euuhhh..."

Flash! The Time Tug and Webby were instantly snapped away in the blink of a small Beagle's eye.

"...WAAAAHH-AAAAHHH-AAAAHHH?! The- The- The only person that was ever willing to talk to me and listen to my deep emotional troubles, gone. GOOONNEE! What do I do?! What do I do?!" Big Time started to panic and run around the empty beach as Huey began to try to ask who exactly 'they' where.

"Don't worry nerd! I won't let them take you too!" The Beagle Boy tightly hugged the blind duckling and then froze in fear.

"Unless, UUUUHHH! THEY TAKE ME FIRRSSSTT! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Big Time went back to running scarred in small circles as Huey only stood still in blind confusion.

"Wwwamph wwmhhhht?"

* * *

...

"Wait what? WHAT?! WHHAAAATT?!" Webby suddenly found herself and the Time Time facing a carefully engraved stone goose print wall and away from the dinner table with all it's occupants now staring at her.

"WHERE THE HECK I AM?! WHAT HAPPENED TO EVERYTHING?! And what is that delicious smell? It's almost like a thousand of my own kind cried out in sudden death and then where served up for me on a silver platter. Wait..." She quickly turned around in the water and audibly gasped in shock.

"Uncle Gladstone?!" Webby suddenly gasped again. "Literally everything?!"

"Hey." Gladstone lazily waved to her from his chair.

"...Fooooooood! WAAhhhhh-" Splat! The overjoyed little merduck fell flat out of the tub and onto the floor in excitement and just laid there.

"-Ow."

"Here Webby, let me help you." Fenton gently lifted her up in his gizmo-lap.

"Th-Thank you... Fooooooood! Fooooooood! CAN I PLEASE HAVE SOME?!"

"Ha-ha-ha. Have all you want kid." Gladstone smiled. "We've got plenty. Well, infinity to be exact. Dig in."

"...YES! Infinity food! It's all my sleepless dreams come true!" Webby immediately began stuffing her mouth full of the random assortment of seafood dishes and sides.

"I have some many questions! What is going on here, how did you survive the apocalypse?! Are you now secretly a lich? Do you have any jelly donuts, and can I swim through them?! Who prepared this? It's absolutely amazing! And does eating this make me a cannibal?!"

"Why do you not sound at all concerned about that?" Gyro asked with a condescending expression as the merduck started to stuff the Ducky Mountain Oysters down her bill without even chewing them.

"Uhhh... I feel like I someone should tell you that's fried minotaur testes." Ma Beagle told her, causing Webby to stuff another oyster in mouth and slowly chew it while looking only slightly concerned.

Suddenly feeling very mistreated, Bouncer quickly pushed himself away from the table and stood up. "If she can eat em' why can't I?!"

"SIT, CON SARNIT!" His mother sharply slapped the tall Beagle Boy in the face.

"Ahhhh!"

"...Oh, Liu and Selene prepared it. Ha, thank them." Gladstone said before reclining back farther in his chair.

"Wait, Lou?" Webby paused for a bit and then gasped after quickly recognizing a green amphibian looking figure standing still in the back of the room. "What is he doing here?" She whispered, trying to avoid looking him in his cold, bitter gaze.

"Isn't that Liu Hai the ancient Spirit of Chance and Fortune and evil luck vampire? He held you prisoner in a LITERAL stacked house of cards."

"...Ha-ha-ha! Oh, that was centuries ago. He's completely reformed!" Gladstone laughed heartily as Liu Hai turned to walk away into the kitchen, not taking eye contact off them until he completely disappeared into the thick darkness.

"That's, probably not the last we're going to see of him..." Webby commented. "And did you just say centuries? What year even is thi-"

"-Ahh, look Vero, a real life living fellow Mervanan. And child one at that." An unfamiliar hippie couple suddenly walked up to the dinner table and bent down to Webby's level before her question could be answered. "Hi, what's your name?" The woman shook her hand.

"I'm not a Mervanan, I'm a Webby. Also, what is an Mervanan?" The little merduck asked, looking a little uncomfortable from the sudden unwanted attention.

"It's what WE are. It's who YOU are. You're one of US, as we are one with YOU..." The man explained while the woman began squeezing and pinching the little merduck's cheeks.

"...Check it out Vero, she's got a pink bippy."

"Okay, okay. You two need to just back off a bit okay? You're both kinda freaking me out here. Who even are you guys?"

"Yeah, I have to agree. This is a little odd..." Fenton nodded and held Webby closer.

"...Oh, sorry, I'm Aletheia, and this is Vero." The woman explained.

"And we're Mervanans, gimme some skin." Vero held out his hand to Webby who only frowned in return.

"...Dirty cannibal."

...

"Gimme some skin, is just short and groovy for, let's shake." The male Mervanan held out his hand to her again.

"And us Mervanans, are just what society people usually call, mermaids and mermen." Aletheia smiled and lifted Webby away from Fenton and up in her arms. "And your one them!"

"...So, you're both mermaids and hippies?" Webby suddenly gasped in excitement. "Mer-hippies! But- But if- if you're actually a mermaid, then how you do have legs? And- And breathe air-" The little merduck was suddenly interrupted by her lack of breath and began choking and struggling about.

"Oh my, do you have a piece of food lodged in your throat? Maybe an oyster?" Aletheia turned her around and began patting her on the back.

"...W-W-W-Water."

Fenton sighed and gently pulled Webby away. "Would you please excuse us for just a minute..." Quickly rolling over to the Time Tub, the Latin duck placed her underneath the water.

"She'll, be a while."

...

"Feel yourself become one with the deep blue ocean!" Aletheia calmly continued as if nothing had just happened. "Feel the waves, the gentle tides, smell the salty breeze, and connect with the serene ocean life..."

"But- But the ocean, is all just blood now." Webby said as she finally resurfaced safe and sound from the water.

"A minor setback." Vero began. "...Our inner strength, your inner strength. You dig it?"

"What?"

"The power that sleeps deep inside you, the power that sleeps inside us all..." Aletheia raised her hands in the air.

"Ugh, in layman's terms please..." Webby tapped her fingers on the side of the Time Tub in annoyance.

"Who's Layman?" Launchpad asked.

"...Oh, the magic all Mervanans have to live on both the land and in the sea. When we're on land, our tails transform into legs and we can breathe without water, and when we're in the sea, they change back. And also other rad magical abilities..."

"...Who's Layman?" Launchpad asked again in the exact same tone.

"Seriously, how can you NOT know about this? And how old are you anyway, didn't you're parents ever teach all about this in Mervanan school?" Aletheia asked. "It's all common Mervanan knowledge..."

"It's a, long story." Webby began as she rested her head on the tub. "Fenton, could you please get me a drink?"

"Oh, sure." He quickly grabbed her a small glass of cider from the table and handed it to her.

"Basically, I got kidnapped by an evil sorceress who hates me and my family, tortured my very best friend Lena who also happens to be her own shadow magically brought to life, and transformed me into one of you guys against my will." She paused to take a quick sip from her drink. "It's not very fun, and I miss my legs. I know they weren't much, but without them. I'm afraid I shall be forever known as only 'Y' Vanderquack..."

"Oooh, far out man." Vero nodded.

...

"Who's Layman?"

"...Ha-ha-ha! Don't worry about it kid." Gladstone laid back relaxed in his chair as Webby took another quick sip of cider and closed her eyes. "Circe will transform you back real quick. After all, it's the first duty of every loving wife to fulfill all the wishes of their devoted husband."

"Hmm? PPPHHHHTTTPTPTHHPTHH!" Webby quickly popped open her eyes and sprayed a month-full of cider all over Manny far across the table.

"W-H-Y?!" A very wet Manny slowly clapped while the little ecstatic merduck dececied to completely give up on trying to remain calm.

"OH MY GODDESS! Circe! You really married Circe?! The Goddess of Magic Circe?! The Circe with the curly tail and the darkest disposition?! That Circe?!"

"Yeeeppp. That Circe..." Gladstone nodded with a smile.

"...Where is she?! Can you tell me about her?! What's her favorite spell? Familiar, quote, movie, monster? Who was your best man? Can you adopt me?! Webbigail Gander, sounds great to me! And why am I always in the middle of drinking something when something exciting happens to me? And can you just adopt me ALREADY?!"

"Hold it. I thought law didn't mean anything to you..." Gyro stood up in front of Webby and gave her a cold look.

"...Only when it's in my favor!"

"WEBBY, YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!" Gyro immediately demanded.

"Nice to see she's finally back to normal..." Fenton smiled.

"Okay okay, before we make this official, is there anything important I need to know about you first?" Gladstone began after standing up and stretching. "Do you carry any dark family curses? Have any allergies? Your birthday?"

...

"I don't get along with well donkeys. And is that a YES?! YES! PLEASE TELL ME, WHERE IS SHE?!" Webby asked as she continued to only grow more and more excited.

"Eh, last I've seen of her, she was in the garden..."

"...YES!" The little merduck immediately threw herself at Manny's back and smacked him. "Giddy-up Manny! Wheeeeee!"

"I can't help it! It's, heredity!" The masked Headless Man-Horse said as he fell on all fours and began to quickly gallop away.

"Hey, uh, wrong way! It's the third door, on- on the right!" Gladstone yelled just before Manny ran out of the room.

"...I know, I've been here before. Giddy-up Manny! Wheeeeee!" Webby held on tight as Manny carried her out into the rest of the temple. "Who knew that getting kidnapped would be the singe BEST thing that's ever happened to ME?! Wheeeeee!"

"Anything to make a little kid happy." The lucky Goose smiled and laid back in his chair.

"You're all heart..." Ma Beagle frowned.

"...I am so touched at how this family has embraced this situation." Selene hugged herself. "They hardly even know this child, and yet they already love and have accepted her in with open arms. Anyone who ever wondered how much they could love a child who did not hatch from their own eggs know this, it is absolutely the same. The feeling of love is so profound, it's incredible, and surprising."

"It's true man, it's true. Love is the most ferocious and strongest force on the planet." Vero added.

"Pure love. Just, pure love..." Aletheia felt faint from pure joy.

"...Dr. Gearloose, this is perfect. I thought for sure something bad was going to happen and that we'd all end up in a big fight with someone." Fenton began. "But this is great! We can leave Webby here in future were she'll obviously be much happier and live out the rest of her life, and then we time travel to the past before the world ends and rescue the other past Webby and bring her home before anything bad happens to her."

"Uhh, I don't think that's how time travel works, but-"

"-The past places no absolute limit on the future." Fenton quickly interrupted with a chuckle. "We'll, make it work."

"Uhh, I- I don't-" Gyro was once again interrupted as he was quietly pulled aside by Ma Beagle.

"This coffee boiling four-flusher Gander fella is crooked as a Beagle's hind leg. You grab the plates, I've got to see this. There's something fishy going on around here, and I'm gonna find out what. BOYS! Stay put..." She ordered as she slowly walked off after Webby.

"...And no dang bovine knackers!"

"AWWWWW!" The three disappointed Beagle Boys sat back down in their chairs.

...

"So, this is what true love is?" Penumbra questioned aloud. "Putting all kindness and consideration first until ultimately crash do us part?" The young moonlander blinked.

"I could live with that..."

...

"Who's Layman?"

* * *

...

"Faster Manny! Faster!"

The sound of rapid clip-clopping filled the silence of the massive Temple of the Lucky Goose as Webby rode Manny the Headless Man-Horse as fast as she possibly could towards her legendary childhood idol.

"Yes. Yes! YES! Almost there, almost there! ALMOST-"

Nearing the familiar replica of Ithaquack leading up to Selene's secret garden, Manny suddenly came to a complete stop at the base, launching Webby off his back at high speeds and shooting her straight through the air and the circular door into the quiet temple chamber.

"-WAAAAAHhhhhh!" She hit the floor and slid across it on her stomach, her short painful journey ending at the feet a tall, barefooted figure currently facing away from her. Surprisingly, the almost motionless figure didn't even bother to turn around in surprise of who was now currently in the room with her.

Slowly looking up at her, the little merduck on the floor could make out the shape of an anthropomorphic pig with long jet black hair wearing a dark pink and purple dress.

It was Circe, the true Goddess of Magic, in the flesh, and Webby couldn't contain herself anymore.

"Hi, I'm Webby! Your new adopted daughter honorary niece of world-renowned adventure trillionaire Scrooge McDuck and your most loyal follower! Nice to meet you! CAN I CALL YOU MOMMY?!"

...

"Scrooge, McDuck, was it?" She finally responded.

"Hmmm. I've met him."

...

"Twice..."


	23. Night of the Unliving De Spell!

...

"Wait, you've met him?! Oh wait, of course you did." Webby lightly chuckled at herself.

"Uncle Scrooge has like, literally been everywhere and done everything. Name a place, and he's been there, shaped history. Isn't he, just the coolest?" She asked with a wide cheery smile, waiting from a response from her calmly indifferent idol.

"...Ithaquack." The Goddess of Magic slowly walked away from Webby on the floor, refusing to look her directly in the face.

"The first time our fates crossed, it was centuries ago. The lost Grecian Dark Ages, 1100 BC, Ithaquack. I assumed he was a powerful sorcerer, or possibly a rebellious demigod of sorts. Because he and his family had come from the future, to take my rightful place, on the high throne of Ithaquack..."

"Wait, are you monologuing now? YES! Can I take notes?! And also, can I touch your tail?!" Completely ignoring the overly-excited Webby's questions, Circe continued.

"...Young King Homer, he didn't have the experience. He was a coward, called me and my magic evil. He was clearly unworthy. And Queen Ariel, she was too kind for her own good."

"So I arranged to send him to a distant time, where he'd fit right in with the cowardly mortals of the future, while I kept his 'Arie' safe with me." The Goddess paused to call a furry black cat over to her, gently picking it up and petting it softly.

"Always putting each other down, just to build themselves up. And if he was man enough to survive, I'd bring him back, give him his chance to apologize. To crawl, weep, and grovel at my feet. Because it takes a true man, or woman, to admit when they're wrong..."

"Is it not your mortal tragedy that men must be beaten like donkeys before they will listen to reason?" Circe paused as Webby struggled to sit up in a comfortable upright position, which was obviously much harder for her to do without legs and feet to stand on.

"...But my spell was disrupted, reversed, through time itself, by a future bearer of endless bad luck and grave misfortunes. An angry, temperamental duck in a sailor's suit and cap, spoke in such a complex, cryptic language of the gods, even I couldn't understand him."

Without turning around, Circe lifted up her right hand and snapped her fingers together, instantly swapping Webby's clothes into a miniature version of an old blue outfit and hat, her golden ring from Doofus Drake was still left fastened tightly around her wrist.

"Donald..." The little merduck held herself up with her arms as she started to look slightly concerned.

"And another duck. A zealous, determined, heedless young woman, with a heavy emphasis on hating, fish." Circe snapped her fingers again, swapping Webby's clothes into a miniature pilot outfit, getting her pink merduck tail tangled up in her pants.

"Della..." She slowly lifted the flight goggles off her eyes, trying her best to figure out where exactly Circe was going with this.

"And, your Uncle Scrooge. Time is, just an unfamiliar, mortal construct to me. But I still forgot what his face looked like. I don't think he remembered me either. But I could never forget his three, distinct, symbols..."

"Wait, symbols?" Webby tilted her head curiously.

"...Top hat, cane, and what you mortals call, glasses." Circe instantly snapped a black top hat with a pink bow on it and a pair of glasses onto Webby, not forgetting to snap a short cane in her hands and replace her ragged brown pilot apparel with a familiar red coat.

"I didn't hold it against him though. Even though he ruined everything, senselessly struck me down, banished me to the depths of Tartarus."

Webby's tired eyes widened in shock as she heard this. "He, never told me about this..."

"And then, I was called back to the mortal world above, by the unfathomable power, SHE, wielded." The goddess stopped to take a deep breath. "A petty, mean-spirited, not so delicate, vengeful old sorceress..."

"Wait... What sorceress? Are you talking about Magica? Magica De S-"

"-Yes, THAT, woman." Circe quickly and coldy interrupted, still without looking back.

"Century old grudges, revenge plots, it's all just a fool's game. But I still played along, used my, unique powers, against her enemies. Displacing them in their own pitiable husks of bodies, watching them squirm, and turning you into your current, aquatic, shape."

The goddess managed to hold back an almost psychotic snorting chuckle, barely letting her young guest get a side view glimpse of her cold, smooth skinned face. "It, amused me, to say the least..."

"Wait, wait wait WHAT?! WHAT?! Hold it, HOLD IT! Her shadow was YOU?! YOU WORKED WITH MAGICA?!" Webby rolled over onto her side and laid her head on the floor, now looking visibly disheartened.

"My- My hero..." She whispered softly to herself.

...

"I'm not sure why you're so surprised. That campy witch uttered my name several times in your presence all those years ago." Circe slowly continued. "Were you not paying attention? Are you really this dense? Or are you just, really stupid or something?"

"Hey! I'm not that stupid! Hardly ignorant even!" Webby suddenly perked up in wild anger and tried to sit upright again, understandably annoyed at how helpless and physically handicapped Circe had made her.

...

"...Yet you still don't get it."

"What?! What don't I get?! Ow, nice kitty, I'm not a cat treat." The little merduck laughed and fell backwards as she was quickly pounced onto her back by the dark furry feline that was once laying still in Circe's arms.

"OW! Heheheh, nice boy, silly boy. Don't worry, you don't have to prove anything to me, you'll grow up to be a both terrifying and ferocious panther one day." Webby smiled with her eyes closed as she let the cat claw and bite at her face.

"All you need to do, is train-" She gasped loudly in shock as she finally got a look at the small feline's face, and to call it off-putting would an understatement.

The heavily distorted reflection of her bill and now scratched up face stared right back at her in silent awe as the cat's lifeless black eyes were almost completely indivisible inside it's furry head, leaving Webby momentarily speechless as she held up the screeching clawing abomination of a creature above her in her hands.

"Nevermind." She quickly rolled over and gently placed it safely away from her on the floor. "You good..."

Circe sighed. "Look, sleepyhead, let me snap you back to reality." With an unrecognizable still expression frozen on her face, The Goddess of Magic finally turned around to face Webby, showing off her similarly piercing, souless, dead eyes.

"AAAHH! I've heard of black eyed kids, but blacked eyed pigs?! Although Manson wasn't really all that bad. Even though he paralyzed me and tried to carry me off into the underbrush." The little merduck causally mentioned aloud.

...Snap!

With a final snap of her fingers, Circe brought everything around the petrified Webby into a thick shadowy darkness and magically lifted her off the floor. While also turning her feathers a light shade of blue, and her eyes a dull yellow color that gleemed brightly in the icy cold abyss.

* * *

...

"Wha...What is- Wait, what is-"

With the warmth of their breaths visible in the now frigid temperatures, Circe floated right up to Webby in the shadowy gloom and spoke to her in a deep, magically booming voice of a legion of gods.

"...In this great big grand scheme of gods and goddesses in this universe, you're just one mortal being along with all the rest of them, all to only be forgotten."

"N-No, NO! I preferd MANSON!" Webby screamed loudly in resistance.

...

"So what if I wiped them all out? Scrooge McDuck, Doofus Drake, your friends, painlessly, and efficiently? The truth is, men make terrible pigs, as transformation touches only bodies, not minds."

"No...No- No! Uncle Scrooge is...He can't be...Dead. No, you're...you're lying! He can't be! Dead? No. No! NO!"

The goddess paused to let the little merduck fight and struggle with all her strength to break out of the compromising magical grasp she had on her, watching her in smug emotionless silence as warm tears began to swell up in her large, luminescent eyes.

...

"...Who are you anyway? Who cares that you thought I was cool? That I'd think anything of you, because you cared? Who, are you?"

With a look of cold mocking pity, Circe turned back around and faded away into the thick darkness, leaving Webby alone and all by herself, floating motionless in her empty, silent, dimensional pocket.

...

"Honestly, I couldn't care less about you. You are, and mean, nothing, to me..."

...

"H-H-Hello?! Can- Can someone HEAR ME?!" Webby began to panic and thrash fiercely about in the dark, only to be met with persistent silence from her thoroughly uninhabited surroundings.

"...CIRCE! Please just bring me back already!"

...

"I'll... DIE HERE! Without water..."

...

"Is this, truly it? The end of Webbigail Vanderquack?" The little merduck spoke to herself with an unsurprising amount of noticeable pessimism in her tired voice.

"...No friends, no family, no Uncle Scrooge, no legs, no sleep, no tail feathers, no magical shadow princess to forcibly hug, snuggle, and wrestle to the ground? No children of my very own, no... Jelly donuts?"

"Liiiiiiife?! IS THIS A JOKE?! OR AM I THE JOKE?! BECAUSE IT'S BARELY FUNNY AT ALL! What is life?" She let her arms go limp and fall forward as her dejected face was hidden underneath her black top hat.

* * *

...

"Don't take it to heart it kid..."

"WAAAAHH?!" Webby quickly sprung back to life as she was grabbed from behind and pulled back to her senses.

"AHHHH, The Grim Reaper! He's come to take me early! Wait, Mr. Grim?" She paused in sudden confusion in the light of the garden. "You don't sound anything like I expected, you got severe laryngitis or something? You kinda sound like... like-"

Webby turned around to see Ma Beagle holding her up from underneath her arms, with Manny the Headless Man-Horse standing patiently close behind in silence.

"-Awwww, laaaaammme..." Webby now looked doubly disappointed.

"...Just let this be a valuable lesson to ya. Never, raise your expectations on anybody. Because you never know, when they're gonna let you down. Let's get outta here. Man-Horse! C'mon." Ma Beagle stuck Webby tightly under her shoulder and began to carry her off.

"W-W-WAIT! I am- I am so disappointed in you Circe!" The trapped little merduck yelled back at Circe facing away from her as she punched and struggled desperately to escape.

"Even- Even Magica cared more about me! Magica! And she like, really, really, REALLY doesn't like me! And it STINKS down HERE! Bluuugh!"

"Uh, in case you forgot, that's not such a dang good thing in your case." Ma Beagle frowned. "Hate to freak ya out like this kid, but I'm afraid Magica's been spying on you for quite a while. And why are you now all dressied up as McDuck?" She asked.

...

"AHA! So THAT'S how SHE knew!" Webby exclaimed in sudden proud realization.

"Knew, what?" The masked Manny clapped curiously.

"...Jelly donuts!" She pointed her finger sideways in self-discovery while Ma Beagle only looked a tad bit confused.

...

"In CASE you forgot, this cold, empty, pitiless world doesn't revolve around you." Circe continued without turning back around to face Webby. "And it's so much easier to live without regrets. This world, is finally at peace..."

"...Unless-"

"-WHAT?! Unless what?! What are you trying to say?! That you KILLED my family, and that I should just accept it?! Just because they weren't all gods like YOU?!" Webby fought and clawed violently to get the cross Beagle mother to just let her go already.

...

"Please." The Goddess of Magic stood completely still with a serious lack of emotion in her cold voice. "Give it a rest you stupid hard-headed demonspawn of a twerp. Throw yourself to the duckyphiles and get laid you miserable little twat. You'll never get that sweet corkscrew otherwise..."

"Uuuuh!" Both Ma Beagle and Webby stood stunned and audibly gasped at Circe's final remark in shock, prompting Manny to quickly walk over and cover Webby's ears with his hooves in silence.

"...You're- YOU'RE AWFUL! I- I can't believe I ever looked up to YOU!" The furious and now visibly disturbed little merduck continued to struggle and fight her way out of Ma Beagle's tight grasp she had on her.

"Watch it kid. I don't think it'd be too bright to rile up this high-pirooting hogwash excuse of a witch."

"...Well I don't think it was TOO bright on HER PART! I changed my mind! She's not only awful, she's- AWFULLY TERRIBLE! I FULLY AND COMPLETELY BOYCOTT YOU!"

...

"Really? Because I believe it, because I always knew..." Circe's cold tone of voice was barely audible over the sparkling clean water flowing through the garden.

"WHAT?! You knew WHAT?! Spit it OUT!" Webby sputtered in anger, somehow still being able to breathe and speak this long without water.

"You read about me, researched me, thought I was cool. Did you really think, that I had no idea? Maybe if you were anything but a mere mortal, I would have cared. Hhmph, cry me a River Styx." Circe scoffed.

...

"You're- You're so low, you'd have to look up to LITERALLY see HECK! Is this how you see ME?! Only JUST A THING?! JUST A THING?! JUST TO GET BRUTALLY gang-DUCKED?! This- This is how Lena felt didn't she?" Webby tried to her best to keep from crying from the combination of exasperation and sadness she felt for her best freind as she hung tightly onto a tall stone pillar in the garden.

"Being treated worse than nothing, just because you're different, and that you see yourself superior and higher than them-"

"C'mon kid, that's enough. You're just asking for trouble." Ma Beagle said as she attempted to pull Webby away and out of the room.

"-And yet YOU claim to be better than Magica DE SPELL?! But you're BOTH the SAME! EXACTLY THE SAME! YOU'RE JUST, like HER!"

Webby's shrill voice echoed throughout the temple garden like a magical shockwave, immediately setting off Circe into a sudden harrowing, shrieking fit as she fell to her knees and covered her ears.

"AAAUUuu-UUUhhHh-uuu...UHuuUUHHHH-" The goddess quickly began to cry and vomit up a thick black shadowy liquid while writhing around on the floor at the complete mercy of her convulsions.

"What, in all holy tarnation?!"

"Uhh, I think something I said seriously triggered her or something..." Webby said as she, Ma Beagle, and Manny stared down at Circe making quite a screaming bawling banshee of herself.

"Wait, was it De Spell?" She wondered aloud.

"YooOUU...StUPid horrIBLe...litTLE-D-d-Do-DOn't...s-sAY...T-thAt...-

"-YES! I knew it! De Spell is her worst weakness, her darkest fatal flaw!" Webby finally wiggled her way free out onto to floor in excitement and managed to crawl her way up to Circe.

"Well I'll show her! DE SPELL! DE SPELL! DE SPELL! DE SPEL- Ugghhmmm!" The unsuspecting little merduck was quickly tackled onto her back as The wailing Goddess threw her down and shrieked uncontrollably in her face.

"WAAAHHH?! No! Lemme g- Bluugh! Bad Circe! Bad! DE SPELL! DE SPELL! DE SLEL-" Webby was interrupted as she was pulled to safety by Manny who held her high above his stony head.

"AAAAU-UUhh...AAUUG-hhhgg...uhh!" Circe continued to cry and violently choke up inky dark shadows as the flesh of her face began to slowly shrivel down to the bone and into the shape of something not even close to resembling a pig goddess.

"I think that one did it. Bluugh! I got goddess barf in my mouth. Bluugh! Literally tastes worse than swordhorse clippings."

"Wait, what?!" Manny clapped on the floor with a single back hoof.

And then, everything fell silent. Circe immediately stopped screaming, convulsing, and writhing.

Slowly standing up to her feet in complete and utter eerie silence facing away like before, she stood perfectly still and upright like a deformed statue and let the rest of her shadowy insides pour out of her eyes and mouth into a puddle on the floor.

"...Webby used words! It was super effective!" Webby narrated proudly.

And then, suddenly, the horrible loud sounds of bones and ligaments tearing and cracking apart filled the garden and completely drowned out the prior peace and quiet of the large temple chamber.

Tall dark inanimate lifeless shadows and silhouettes rose from every empty corner of the room as Circe's limp arms finally snapped free from their sockets with a sickening shambolic melody of clattering bones and grew outwards from her body to the size of trees across the floor.

"...What, the HECK?!" Ma Beagle gasped.

"I suddenly no longer have the urge to sleep." Webby casually mentioned in wide eyed fear high up in Manny's hooves.

The goddess's narrow bony appendages ruptured out even further as monstrous sharp curved fingers burst forth from her shaking hands, and then pulled themselves along with thier enormous ragged claws.

A deep demonic ghoulish chant repeated itself loudly over and over and over out of nowhere in a sinister foreign language as Circe's legs began to buckle and contort violently.

"It's Gloomsian Greek dialect! One of the many languages spoken by the dark spirits of The Shadow Realm!" Webby said.

"What?!" Ma Beagle questioned.

"Shhh! Quiet please!" Webby held her feathered hand up to her right ear to try and hear better.

"It's a warning! It says... It says..." The little merduck gulped and completely froze in sudden, unexplainable dread.

"What's, it, saying?!" Manny clapped as Webby only remained silent up in his grasp and Circe's bony legs began to grow longer and longer at a disturbingly rapid pace, causing all her clothes and flesh to fall to the floor in a pile and revealing her to be a gigantic, grey skeleton figure with unnaturally long unearthly legs and arms that reached all the down to her clawed, webbed feet.

With a final set of loud petrifying cracks, the massive skeleton figure slowly placed her hands on the floor and bent her spine all the way backwards in a completely unnatural position. Her long strands of dark black hair hung below as her emotionless, upside down skull faced Webby head on, now only inches away from her bill.

...

"Yeah, THAT did IT alright!" Ma Beagle stood far back in fear.

"Aw phooey..." Webby laid flat on her stomach underneath her top hat.

"RrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The skeleton screamed a monstrous blood-curdling shrill scream, instantly tackling Webby out of the safety of Manny's hooves and hard onto her back on the floor.


	24. A Beagle and Puppet Show!

...

"Careful, careful, CAREFUL! Everything depends on this ONE, FINAL, move." A particularly biased young commentator gloomed close behind her recently acquired figure of affection as she continued to commentate proudly with gleeful passion in her audibly cracking voice.

"The currently winning Earther continues to thoroughly defeat his oppressing opponent..."

"Uh, Launchpad?" Fenton gently nudged his pilot friend with a black gixmo-thumb, currently trying his best to concentrate hard on the strenuous and difficult task at hand.

"...The other defeated Earther attempts divert his sharp foucs, but it proves to be infinitely futile."

"Almost, almost, al- AAAHH- AAAAHHHH!" Launchpad suddenly jumped up from the table in pain as he clutched his right hand tightly in his grasp.

"Cramp! Cramp! Still cramping! Still cramping! AAAAHHHH! Standing and flailing does nothing! Mr. McDee's friendly advice never failed me before!"

...

"The currently winning Earther proceeds to annihilate his appalling adversary, while flaunting his ultimately superior male dominance. May the unworthy and children avert their eyes..."

"You are a child." Gyro stated what should have clearly been the obvious.

"...I said children." Penumbra calmly replied after a moment of uncomfortable dull alien silence from her.

"Fine then. You are a children."

"And I sill hate you." The young moonlander coldy spoke back.

...

"Wait, hold on! Watch it, watch it. WATCH-" Penumbra quickly perked back up just as Launchpad slammed hard down on a golden spoon on the table, wildly flipping another identical spoon spinning up in the air and landing it perfectly into a tall empty glass in front of them as he laid facedown on the tablecloth.

"-Triumph! Victory! Ha-ha, yes-ess! Take that losers! My future husband has just bested you all! Take that, my future husband has just bested you all." The little moonlander danced an immature little victory dance over her deafeated opponents and then paused.

"...We won hubby."

Immediately ceasing his loud inconsistent snoring, the confused pilot stood up in sudden excitement. "I DID?!"

"YOU DID! I mean we did! We definitely did!"

"Wooooo!" They both stopped to lightly fist bumb. "Yeah..."

"Oh most loyal companion of Donald Duck, this SPOOOOON game looks like such great fun! May I give it a try?" Storkules politely asked with a hopeful wide smile.

"Sure! All you have to do, is lay one spoon, on top of another spoon, and them wham!" Launchpad paused. "Wham. You just do it..."

"Ooooh, what great fun!" The bombastic demigod quickly grabbed a shiny spoon and lined it up on the table.

"Easy, easy, don't overthink it. Just, let the swift motions flow through arm. Ignore the cramps, and let flow, flow." Launchpad instructed.

"Hmmm, I see you have taken that advice quite well..." Gyro simply crossed his arms and frowned in his blurry world.

"Uh, pardon, but can an immortal even get cramps?" Bouncer Beagle suddenly asked.

"...Well, would thou mindst informing me what exactly an, CRAAAAAMP is?" Storkules asked with surprising childlike innocence in his voice.

"It's when parts of your body experience unexplained physical discomfort or pain by sudden contraction of their muscles..." Fenton quickly explained. "You know, like the times you're fast asleep and then you're suddenly jolted awake. Muscles can be huge jerks sometimes."

...

"I see." The demigod lied as he prepared to launch the spoon.

"Ha-ha-ha! Don't sweat it pal. Just, let the swift motions flow through arm. Ignore the cr-"

"-We've heard this one BEFORE." Gyro rudely interrupted.

"W-What?! N-No. No you didn't! But did you now?" The confused pilot questioned himself.

"YESSS." The scientist simply confirmed.

"Oh..." Launchpad paused again in deep philosophical inner thought. "Did I mention the cramps?"

Suddenly, without any sort of prior warning, a magical shockwave quickly passed through the large fancy dinner room just as Storkules finally began his first attempt at Spoon Frog, casing him to slam down hard with his fist on the golden spoon and send the other one flying through the high ceiling with a crack, and then figuratively flip the whole dinner table full of food over.

"My oysters!" Black Arts stared in horror at his delicious dinner spread all across the floor.

"...It seems, the tables have been turned." Fenton calmly noted while still sitting in his minimalist chair.

"You massively muscular Earth clod! Just look at what you've done!" Penumbra got up in Storkules' now dazed face. "The game is ruined, our dominance has been completely countered, and that dull eating utensil has been successfully launched, straight through our covering!"

"Weird, usually I am the one that usually crashes planes and vehicles and stuff. Just like that." Launchpad said.

"Oh. Really?" Gyro looked unsurprisingly unsurprised.

"...Yeah, really. Wait waaahhh?!" The pilot stood back after finally taking notice of Storkules and all the rest of the immortals and mystical beings in the room began to mindlessly trudge towards the direction of the temple garden like limp puppet zombies, their jaws wide and agape as they groaned deep inhuman groans.

"Weary travels, L.P., Dr. Gearloose, I wish it never had to come to this..." Gladstone Gander said as he stood up, his earlier chill and devil-may-care attitude was replaced with a frown and much more serious tone of voice.

"What? Come to what? We really could use some context here!" Fenton pleaded for a much needed answer.

"Okay, brace yourselves, cause it's quite the shocker." The goose sighed sadly. "This universe, and all it's inhabitants, have been cursed..."

...

"Hmmm. Well if that's the case, why aren't you going all, lethargic thriller on us? Or are you just not, CURSED enough, is that it?" Gyro asked as he raised a single suspicious eyebrow.

"You kidding? Heh, I'm Gladstone Gander." The goose began. "My extraordinary good luck and naturally charming aura protects me from any and all kinds of physical harm. And, slight, embarrassments..."

"Oh, really? The scientist sarcastically replied in obvious disbelief.

"Okay then, I'll prove it. On my velvet-feathered son of a horseshoe's favorite genie I'll prove it! Punch me..." Gladstone calmly ordered.

"What?"

"You heard my right, punch me. Punch me as hard as you can."

"...Okay look, you don't seem like all that BAD of a guy. But if you really insist-" Gyro was interrupted by another deep tired sigh from Gladstone.

"-De Spell..."

As soon the goose softly uttered the ancient, cursed surname in question, Storkules, Zeus, Selene, and the two Mervanans turned around in perfect zombie unison and slowly dragged their lifeless dazed forms directly at Gladstone who didn't even look the slightest bit concerned.

"Uhh! B-Blathering blatherskite!" Fenton stuttered as he began to shift into full awkward hero mode.

"Uh, uh, there's- there's no need to fear! For Gizmoduck is here!" The Latin duck quickly threw himself in front of the lucky goose to try and defend him from the advancing horde of zombified servants.

"Stop! Or I'm afraid I'll be forced to use force-"

"Just, wait..." Gladstone held his hand up. "Yooouu, might want to roll aside."

"Oh okay." Fenton quickly compiled without question as the pained groaning zombies only grew closer and closer.

"...Any, second now."

...

CRASH! A large heavy circular piece of cracked high ceiling with a goose sized hole in the center of it fell down hard upon the five approaching zombies and safely around Gladstone right before they could attack him, leaving him perfectly unharmed in the middle of the wreckage and motionless bodies as the earlier lost golden spoon finally dropped out from above into his lazily outstretched, feathered hand.

"-What wait?!" Fenton was almost speechless from behind his visor.

"...The name, De Spell, is nothing but cruel reminder of their final living moments, and deaths." Gladstone continued as he stepped out of the fallen debris. "Brought on by the calamitous dark power that De Spell herself had channeled. It's like a poison, nothing is safe from it. The dead, the undead, the used to be dead, the immortal, nothing."

"...Except you?" Gyro frowned, now clearly annoyed with the entire apocalyptic situation.

"Yeah, except me. Literally! I can't die, I'm just, that lucky, and I still don't fully understand it myself. It's just me. I'm like, literally a god when you think about."

"Right, ah-ah-heh-hem-hem." Gyro quickly cleared his scratchy throat. "Non-intern, Captain McCrash. I think it's about time we-"

"-Ma! Ma's with that Circe and the kid! She could be in danger! We gotta help her!" Bouncer said while suddenly looking very concerned about his elderly mother. "I know she's hard on us, but that's just to make us all better Beagles!"

"Oh c'mon guys. Ha-ha-ha." Launchpad chuckled as he causally put a reassuring hand on the large Beagle Boy's shoulder. "Webby's not thaaaat-"

"-Yes she is! And that's not the point!" Gyro interrupted, just as part of the high ceiling above him began to crack and crumble apart.

"Uh, Dr. Gearloose?" Fenton tried to got his former boss' attention.

"Knock it off, NON-intern! We depart in exactly-"

"Dr. Gearloose?!" The ceiling continued to quickly crumble.

"Uhhhhhh." Launchpad only managed to say.

"-five minut..."

"DR. GEARLOOS-" Fenton heroically dove forward just as the piece of ceiling came loose, barely knocking Gyro safely out of the way and getting himself crushed motionless underneath the heavy stone slab inside the Gizmosuit.

...

"Kick him, is he dead?" The young moonlander warrior questioned.

"-Gravity is, such a harsh mistress, Ow..." Gizmoduck collapsed back down onto the floor in a heap.

"Thanks, you're still fired." Gyro quickly thanked him.

"Thanks, you're welcome." Fenton quickly thanked him back before laying back down in silence.

...

"Okay." Gladstone began as he dusted himself off and walked forward. "It won't be long now before this place is completely infested with the plagues of the undead, and they won't stop until they tear apart whoever called them out of their restless, internal slumber."

"Holy Duck Rogers." Penumbra stood back in wide eyed alien awe. "I miss my Dumbella..."

"...Well, I would question how exactly you knew all of THAT, but the bigger question now is, how exactly did you manage to marry, and swoon, an actual goddess?" Gyro asked calmly.

"I mean, you're not all THAT unattractive. Maybe a little on the shorter than average side, but still, hhmm. I wouldn't actually-" Scrooge's McDuck's head scientist was suddenly interrupted as the entire temple began to shake and rumble.

"-No time to explain!" Gladstone grabbed the still half-blind Gyro by the arm and began to quickly pull him away. "Normally, Circe is a loving wife, a surprisingly lighthearted fun loving gal, and the best friend a guy could have in the whole end of the world. But at her core, she can get quite, disagreeable..."

"Uh." Fenton immediately perked back up from underneath the rubble. "We have all the time we want. Time travel remembe-"

"-Don't, start THAAT AGAIN!"

* * *

...

...

...

"WwwaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHH- Uugghh!"

"When you're throwin' your weight around! UGH-" Ma Beagle growled loudly in annoyance as she stood up with Webby tightly in her grasp and began to swing her around.

"-be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else! UUGH!"

"Waaaaaaaaahhh!" The little merduck screamed as she thrown up in the air and back at a giant grey skeleton sorceress who simply caught her in massive clawed hands before she could hit her headfirst in the ribs.

"...You- You barbaric bony banshee! Tell me what you've done to poor Lena, and maybe I won't destroy you as much even if she was here!" Webby punched and swung her firsts wildly as she tried to find an opening for an attack.

"And I don't care if she's now old and decrepit enough to be my granny's granny! She can bake me chocolate covered granny cookies and keep me in a BOOOOOOWWWLL- OW! Ow, ow, ow." Webby was once again flung far across the garden as Magica threw her hard against the stone floor and let her tumble onto her stomach.

"...Ow, ow. ow, ow, ow- AAAHH!" The battred and beaten little merduck wasn't given much time to recuperate from the attack as Magica's ancient skeleton form quickly sprung into action and starting to mindlessly savage and tear into her face while holding her down on her back with her foot on her neck.

"You know, I think SOMEONE- OW-"

"-RRRAAAAGGH! Really should have warned me about this earlier! OW!" Webby tried her best to push away her deceased arch-enemy before she was promptly lifted up by her red jacket and was thrown into her massive cracked bill.

"WAAAHHH-AAAAHHH! Stranger danger, stranger danger! AAAAAAAHHH! I AM BEING EAT-ED! The harsh curse of being of utterly irresistible..."

"WHAT?" Manny the Headless Man-Horse clapped.

...

"Deliciously! Ow ow ow ow ow! GGRAAGH! Leave me alone you evil LICH-WITCH! You'd think being dead would be more than discouraging enough!" Webby continued to try and defend herself the best she could without legs.

"...Well it's been a pleasant evening, but I'll seeing you folks." Ma Beagle waved goodbye before the heavy sliding door to the garden quickly shut in her path.

"OH for cryin' out- Man-Horse! Horse kick the door down..." She ordered.

"I am not qualified for-"

"-GUUUUUUUYS?! I could really use some- Ow- Ow! I-Immediate assistance here!" Webby desperately interpreted Manny's soft clapping as she was slowly being crushed to death inside Magica's powerful jaws.

"Man-Horse!"

"Manny?! Miss Ma Beagle?! Please jus- Ow! Ow! Okay, okay! I'm sorry for publicly humiliating you, calling you a hussy, getting you arrested at least twice already, and for posting dumb Mark Beaks YOLO memes under your name on QUACKER DOT COM! Ow! Ow! Ow! Owie!"

"WHAT?!" Manny clapped.

"You're the one that did that?!" Ma Beagle angrily asked.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! YES! Ah-ha-ha, just- just a little prank right? Ah-ha-ha-ow! No hard feelings RIIIIGGHHT?!"

"Man-Horse!"

"Manny?!"

"Man-Horse!"

"Manny?!"

"Manny-Horse!"

"MAN-HORSIE?!"

Pausing slowly, the masked Headless Man-Horse clapped once on the floor. "Sorry..."

"Aaaaaaaaaahhh-aaahhh- AAAHHH!" Webby frantically struggled and flopped about as Magica pulled her out of her bill and painfully swung her around by her merduck tail while she helplessly dangled upside down.

"No! No no not again! Somebody please hel- Aaaaaaaaaaa-" She screamed out loudly again as she was suddenly thrown towards the wall.

"-aaaaaaaaaahhh! UUUGH!" The little merduck was thankfully caught at the last second by Manny who quickly snatched her out of the air and then rolled backwards from the impact with her safely in his hooves.

"Ow, ow, ow." Webby held her aching head in her hands while in terrible throbbing pain.

"I- I guess pure evil can never be truly destroyed. Only, banis- Hmmmm? Hhhmmmm?!" She immediately went back to struggling and flopping about helplessly as sturdy iron bands magically locked themselves tightly around her bill, neck, and wrists as they were forcefully twisted backwards together behind her back.

Looming high over her in a complete emotionless silence, the colossus undead skeleton sorceress grabbed the long heavy chain attached to the cold metal band around's the panicking Webby's neck and began to slowly drag and yank her across the floor and towards her with her now powerless to do anything about it.

"Manny! Manny! What's going on in there?! Where's Webby?!" Gyro pounded on the sliding door to garden with Gizmoduck, Penumbra, Launchpad, Gladstone, and the Beagle Boys close behind.

Clap, clap clap clap clap! Manny clapped on the other side of the door.

"...What?!"

"Well, what he'd say?" Gladstone asked.

"He said your lovely wife has your new adopted fish daughter at the end of chain and is most likely going to kill her now." Gyro said.

"Oh no... I've- I've got to put a stop to all of this! I owe it to her family." The goose hit his fists together and headed off into the maze of hallways in the temple. "Stay here and out of danger, I'll have a talk with her."

"WHAT?! Where are you going?! What are you doing?! And give me the answer the first question first!"

"Uh, Dr. Gearloose? He just told us where-"

"-Ma! What about Ma-

-Back on the Moon during situations like this, we used to-

"-Hey! Maybe we could just crash-

"-Everyone just, SHUT UUUUP!" Gyro finally and loudly interrupted. "Non-intern! Gimzoduck the door down!"

"Uh, am I still fired?" Fenton quietly asked.

"...YEEESS!"

"Well GOOD to know-" Slowly rolling forward on his singular gimzo-tire, Fenton sighed and began to finger gun-laser in a large circle on the door while muttering coldy underneath his breath.

"-jerk..."

* * *

Webby felt drops of blood and tears trickle down her face and through her feathers as Magica De Spell's, her most hated enemy and The Sorceress of the Shadows giant empty skeletal remains relentlessly savaged and toyed with her like a cat with a mouse. And all she could was watch and whimper softly in pain as her mix of body fluids driped lightly onto the floor below.

She tried to scream, she tried her best to fight back, but she couldn't. She struggled and pulled her hardest to get her arms free fron behind her back, but she couldn't. Magica's long clawed fingers dug deep into her skin and tail, leaving burning scratches and cuts all over her as she was internally begging for it all to stop.

Everything hurt. The world started to blur as her consciousness began to fade away. That horrible feeling of being helpless, powerless, defenseless, and at the mercy of pure, unfiltered, unadulterated evil completely overtook her.

Lena was gone, most of friends and family were long dead, all by the hands of a goddess that she once respected and thought highly of no less. And worst of all, she couldn't breathe.

It all happened at a moment's notice. Her lungs burned, her heart beated faster and faster inside her chest as her breath was seemingly sucked out of her by Magica crushing and squeezing her tightly her in her hands, made only worse by how much she was panicking while uncontrollably shaking and crying trapped within her arch-enemy's unrelenting grasp.

And then finally, it all came to stop. The sorceress finally ceased her merciless assault on the helpless little Merduck and slowly dangled her upside from her tail and held her up to her empty, expressionless face.

As if Magica's soulless remains could somehow comprehended that Webby couldn't breathe and would soon die with oxygen, the sorceress lifted up the end of Webby's chain with her other hand and carefully laid her flat on the floor, not forgetting to snap her aching wrists loose from behind her back.

Cleary confused while still trembling and crying from the intense agonizing beatdown Magica had given her, Webby blinked a couple of times and met her cold stony gaze high above her.

With a single gentle but controlling tug, the sorceress pulled on the chain attached to the metal band around Webby's neck and gesturesd towards to small fountain in the center of the garden. It was almost as if she telling her, "Get in the fountain, fool!"

But before Webby even had the chance to do anything, she was quickly scooped up and off the floor by Manny who began to carry her forward with his front hooves.

"Ooohhhmmmnn! Ssshhhhmm nnnmmmww yyyymmmnnn hhheeemm-" Webby muttered and began to thrash about angrily before Magica promptly knocked the ghostly Headless Man-Horse back against the far wall with a powerful blast of magic, letting Webby fall back down to the floor.

Quickly obeying the sorceress' orders without question, Webby crawled across the floor on her hands and attempted to climb up into the spring water of the fountain. And with a helpful little pull of the chain, she was lifted in the air and dropped into the sparkling clean waters of the fountain.

Normally, Webby would hate the fact that Magica could just order her around and that she gave in so now easily, but at least she could now breathe again, even though how weird and creepy it felt for her to be treated as only a pet on the end of leash. And Doofus didn't really help making it feel any less uncomfortable than it already was.

But still not giving her young, heavily beaten and savaged captive long to recover by allowing her to actually breathe again safely underneath the surface of the water, the sorceress pulled the dripping wet little merduck out of the fountain and set her back on the foor with a subtle devilish smirk now spreading wide across her bill.

Tugging on the chain again to get Webby's attention, Magica lifted up her free hand in the air and dropped the end of the heavy chain to the floor, causing a vaguely familiar, motionless, feathered figure to emerge from the cold stone floor and lay facedown with metal cuffs locked tightly around her each of her wrists.

"...Wwwwhhhmmm?!"

With a snap of her fingers, eight dark shadowy puppet strings attached themselves to the cuffs and Magica's unnaturally long curved fingertips in that order and instantly became taut as the skeleton sorceress pulled the figure's limp arms up off the floor and slowly brought her to her feet.

Webby watched in forced muffled silence as the puppet's head fell forward with nothing left to support it. Her legs clumsily bent underneath her own weight as she was awkwardly guided forward and finally stood up straight up under her master's control.

As the figure danced and fumbled about like a duck that had way too much drink, her webbed feet stuffed deep inside her shoes tapped softly on the floor as her grey and black striped sweater swayed gently around the shadowy puppet's floppy feathered form.

"What in the blazes..." Ma Beagle whispered from the far corner room, as she and Webby both recognized her immediately.

"...Llleeenna-uummmnnmm!" Webby quickly tumbled back down onto to cold floor as her wrists were once again locked tight behind her back, leaving her completely helpless to only weakly flop about and struggle to breathe again like a fish out of water.

With a slow, almost zombie-like nod, Magica lifted the limp puppet up by her wrists and sharply smacked her across the face, causing her to emit a soft groan and begin to fight for control.

But after a few more harsh, disciplinary slaps across every inch of her cold, pale body, the puppet caved in to her master's heed and began to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, finally showing off her heavy, unfocused, unblinking dead eyes. The show had just began.

"Hey Webby it's me. You know, me, Lena..." The puppet spoke along in exact unison with her master, yet it was almost as if wasn't she actually speaking herself, and her master was somehow perfectly imitating her familiar tone of voice as her own voice was completely inaudible.

"I SUUUUUURRRREEE missed ya Webby." The shadow puppet clumsily danced and spun around aimlessly while her best friend had a look of both confusion and fear on her face as she struggled to pull her wrists free.

"But I've been a bad bad, BAAAAAADDD dumb little scum slut. Someone really should punish me..." Magica spoke silently along with the quite ridiculous looking puppet as she quickly turned her around waved her tail feathers directly in Webby's disgusted face.

"Ah ha ha HA. Let's make out Webby. You wanna be top or bottom?" She asked, getting a very weirded out and queasy look for her best friend.

With her head now repeatedly falling forwards and backwards with a stupid smile spread across her bill, the shadow puppet fell forward onto Webby and laughed a wheesy loud laugh.

"Heh heh ha! Silly me. Can't do anything right can I? Ah heh heh heh ha ha ha HA. Oh, you hurt?" The puppet feel down to her kness and held Webby's tightly shut bill up close to her own bill.

"Here, let me give you a biiiiiiiiig kiss and make you feel alllllllll better..."

Webby's cheeks blushed a bright shade of red as the puppet guided by her master planted a big dry kiss on her lips and then dug her fingers deep into shoulders, making sure to playfully wiggle and gently knee at her in the chest, and to say that Webby was now very uncomfortable and completely weirded out right now would be a huge understatement.

"Lllleennaahhhhmmm- Hhhmmhhmhmmm?"

"There, all better now?" The shadow puppet stood tall over her best friend and grabbed her by the end of her pink merduck tail and began to stroke it softly, obviously against Webby's wishes.

"...I have to say, I think I prefer you much better like this Webby." The puppet roughly pinched her friend's wet feathered cheeks and then finished off by lightly slapping her across the face with a chuckle.

"I mean, we can always be togther now. We can find a nice little pond somewhere, and just live out the rest of our lives in peace and tranquility. Just us, together. We'll never have to part- Never have to part- Never- Never..."

Slowly tenseing up and freezing solid in place, the shadowy puppet blinked as she seemed to finally wake up from Magica's grim control she had over her. Breathing heavily, she began to kick and scream desperately in a sudden flailing, almost comical panic attack.

"...Webby? Webby?! Webby please help me! Webby! WEBBY!"

"Hhhmmmhhh?!" Webby's mood immediately shifted back into fear and dread as her best friend shrieked and struggled about helplessly from her underneath her puppet strings, crying and begging for her best friend's help.

Yet there was nothing she could do to help her. Her arms were still locked tightly behind her back, and jumping up to her feet was impossible, considering that she obviously didn't have any.

"Webby? WEBBY?! HELP ME PLEASE! WEBBY?!"

"I'm not a puppet! I'm not a monster! I'm not worthless!"

"I'm not a forever orphan! I have a family that loves ME!"

"I'm not a shameless, pig-ignorant, ugly little dirty slut-face!"

"I have friends! I have a family! I am-" The puppet paused to catch her breath as she continued to scream and cry to the gods for mercy.

"-a PERSOOOOOONNN! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Ughh!" The shadowy figure fell limply across her best friend's immobile body, laying completely motionless in a pathetic little heap as her dry tongue rested flat on her friends back.

Visibly horrified from the horror show she had just witnessed, Webby squirmed uncomfortably from underneath her friend's weight and waited slightly in dread to what might happen next.

And then, she laughed.

It was only for a brief moment, but Webby was sure she had heard it. It was her voice, no mistaking it. Her best friend's familiar hearty laugh.

Normally, Webby loved to hear her laugh. Seeing as how much trauma and neglect Magica had put her through for fifteen years, it felt good to know that she could hopefully just laugh some of it off and finally live her life to to the fullest.

But this was all wrong, she had absolutely no reason to laugh right now. Unless she had suddenly thought of a funny joke or something.

And then she finally noticed it. As her best friend's soft feathery skin gently brushed against hers, Webby felt it.

She was cold, ice cold. The shadow puppet's lifeless body didn't have a pulse, as her warm breaths refused to rise up from her chest.

Not a single heartbeat, nor a single drop of blood ran through her veins. Magica had pulled her strings, played with her like a toy, as a master would with their a puppet.

For centuries she had been like this. The only living shadow of The Sorceress of the Shadows herself, laid perfectly still across her body.

Webby's blood ran cold, stinging fat tears began to gather in her large eyes as she rapidly shook her head in denial. Her racing heart began to crack and shatter apart as all she could do was whimper softly and struggle to breathe through her tightly shut, tear stained bill.

"...Nnnnmmmmmm- Nnnmmmnm. NNNNMmnnmnmn! Leeeennnmmmn."

But she couldn't escape the fact, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. Her worst nightmare had finally come true. Lena, was dead.

"Whoops! Sorry. Broke character a bit there..." Magica smiled and chuckled innocently, now speaking in her natural British accent.

"Nnnnnmmmnnmmmm- Hmmmnnn!"

Two familiar figures watched in stunned silence and watched as Webby tightly shut her eyes and strained even harder against her cold unforgiving restraints, writhing and sobbing uncontrollably as her tears soaked every last feather of her completely devastated, bloodstained face.

"...Wait a minute, hold the phone. Shut it down! Stop it!" Gyro abruptly spoke up.

"What?!" Fenton immediately stopped trying to gizmio-cut a hole through the door.

"Listen!"

...

"It's Webby. She's... crying." Fenton slowly took his ear away from the door and sighed. "Well, at least we can be absolutely one hundred percent proof positive she's still alive..."

"WHAAAT?! That fiend!" Penumbra yelled angrily and then paused. "Whoever SHE is!"

"...I'm not even absolutely one hundred percent proof-positive that she's a little girl." Gyro continued. "She could be a- a- genetically modified, living embodiment of death and freakish brute strength for all we know!"

"I mean, I've mingled with low-life street thugs that she could literally mop the floor clean with with her legs tied together and a broken arm..."

"What?!" Both Penumbra and Fenton said in exact confused unison.

* * *

...

"...You know those times when life suddenly throws ya curveball and puts your whole life in perspective?" Ma Beagle asked, as both she and Manny where almost speechless from the unexpected turn of events. "Poor kid."

"CRYING." The Headless Man-Horse clapped once on the floor.

"Hey, hey, shh shh, look at me." Magica spoke in a surprisingly comforting tone as she carefully pulled Webby out from underneath Lena's cold body and lifted her up in her massive skeleton hands.

Gently wiping her tears away and stroking her heavily scratched up feathered face, the sorceress watched intently as the little merduck's messy crying quieted down to a painful, heartbroken little whimper.

"Hey, don't cry Webby. I mean, after all. What's one less person on the face of the Earth anyway? Oopsy! I forgot. Lena wasn't a person. Just a shadow born from nothing, just to serve her master..."

"Ah ha ha ha. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Magica's soft chuckle slowy began to build up to a full-on stereotypical evil laugh as Webby tears finally stopped flowing out of her firey, inraged eyes.

A dark ferocious scowl immediately replaced Webby's earlier distraught exoression as the sorceress cackled and laughed loudly in amusement. The tears spread out all across her face and bill quickly turned to steam as her face turned bright blood red. But not in embarrassment this time. This time, in unmatched, unsweetened disposition, Uncle Donald rage.

She growled. Her entire immobile body turned red as twitched and shook about like she was literally about to explode, and Magica De Spell in all her haughty ignorance was blissfully unaware of the extreme danger she was now in.

"Rrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Stand, back." Manny clapped before he and Ma Beagle quickly stood back hopefully safe against the wall.

"...There we go. Now that's a good gir- AAAUUUGH!" Magica suddenly felt the flying fury of tiny restrained feathered fists slam hard against the side of her skull as Webby was somehow able flop up high enough to hit more than hard enough to make her drop to the floor.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.-RRRRRR-RRRGGHHH!" A bright flash of magical light surged all throughout Webby's violently trembling body and burst out of her glowing inflamed eyes as she fought and struggled with all her might to free herself.

"RRRRRRRHHH-RRRRGGHHHHHHH-AAUGH!" And then it happened. With a shrill muffled pain-filled cry, her little pink merduck tail sucked itself inside her body and quickly replaced itself with two, unharmed, orange duckling legs and a tail.

Trying her best to cough up the small about of water still left in her system up through her tigthly shut bill, the furious duckling kicked herself up to her webbed feet and glared coldy at what was left of Magica De Spell from underneath her top hat, her breaths finally rose up and down through her lungs like normal.

Webby Vanderquack was back.

"...WHAAA? Rrrrrrr." The massive skeleton sorceress stood back in shock and growled in annoyance before the still restrained little duckling quickly dashed straight past her and ran up against the stone wall behind her.

Repeatedly swinging her wrists behind her back and light body weight against the wall as hard as she could, Webby grunted loudly and quickly spit a large crack in the wall as the iron band holding her wrists tigthly together began to snap clean in half.

"WHAT?! On no you don't!" Magica smirked and pulled back on chain attached to iron band around Webby's neck, pulling her hard to floor.

"Ha ha ha AHHH-" Quickly grabbing the other end of the cold chain in her fingers, the duckling suddenly jerked forward with unsurprising strength and pulled the sorceress flat onto floor instead.

"You littl- AAUUGH-" Magica's empty skull spit straight down the center of her forehead as Webby finally struck her more than hard to snap apart the iron band holding her hands behind her back.

"-insolent child- AAHHH!"

Immediately letting loose a loud shreiky unintelligible battle cry with tears flowing from her bloodshot eyes, Webby unleashed a rapid flurry of quick flying punches and kicks aimed directly at her deceased arch-enemy's face.

"LITTLE BRAT!" Magica quickly scrambled to her feet and snatched the still wildly punching Webby up in her hands, holding her safety away from her face.

...

"...Well, what are you looking at?!" The sorceress turned to face Ma Beagle and Manny the Headless Man-Horse both staring up at her in silence.

"Wait, what are you doing here? Where am I?" Magica paused to look around in confusion and back at the masked bipedal horse with a somewhat familiar looking head atop it's neck.

"What is that thing? What is happenING?"

...

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PlAC-"

"-Cicre honey, you don't want to do this..." Gladstone Gander interrupted as he finally walked out a small, secret passageway through the stone wall on the far side of the garden. Coming to a complete stop, both he and Magica stared at each other.

The entire room fell silent as the stunned skeleton sorceress froze in place. As if something in the room was calling out to her, Magica's focus was thrown directly at Gladstone's bathrobe pocket, her empty dark eye sockets now glowing a bright, hellish red.

"Ummmm."

"...DIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMEEE!"

Pulling Lena's limp body across the floor as she was still connected to the tips of her long, curved fingertips, Magica quickly dropped Webby to the floor and suddenly dove forward, brabbing up Gladstone Gander in her hands.

"DIME! DIME, DIME, DIME, DIME, DIME DIME!" The sorceress shook and held the goose upside from his loose-fitting bathrobe.

"Uh, Circe honey? You know that I love you, and that I'd do anything to make you happy, but now is not the time for-"

-Plink.

A heavily polished silver tent-cent dime fell right out of Gladstone's pocket and bounced along the floor, eventually coming to stop and spinning around until it finally landed heads up on the floor.

...

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMEEE!"

"Hhmmmr?" Webby quickly shook off the effects of the fall and blinked rapidly as she sat down on the floor with her chain close to her side.

And then she saw it. High up in Magica's dry skeleton fingers, the duckling saw the familiar ancient artifact that was apparently way more than important enough to draw the sorceress' attention away from her, her Uncle Scrooge's prized, Number One Dime.

Straightening the shiny spectacles placed atop her bill, Webby grabbed her end of the chain attached to band around neck and pulled as Magica began her incantation.

"Luck of the McDucks and dark magic in it's prime, unleash the power from within this Number One Dime! AH, HA HA HA HA HA HA- Ow! HEY! WHAA?! Grrrrrr."

The distracted sorceress growled in annoyance as the duckling standing below her repeatedly whipped her hard in the face with the other end of the chain.

Snatching up the end of the chain tightly in her hand before it could strike her for the fifth time, Magica suddenly jerked Webby forward by her neck, successfully choking her and pulling her flat to her knees.

"Ha ha ha, YES. Kneel before my grim wr-AAAATCH!" Magica was almost immediately jerked far forwards instead as Webby quickly retaliated by pulling back on the cold chain with great strength, initiating what Magica could only describe as being a entirely unfair game of Tug of war.

"No! You can't be powerfull than me! You're a LOSER!"

Webby remained silent with a look of complete, unflinching dark malice on her face as she ran circles around Magica and wrapped up her long bony legs in heavy links of chains, completely overpowering her arch-enemy's mobility.

"...NO! ALL who oppose me shall FALL! ALL who oppose me shall be annihilated and die by my HAANNDS!"

"So, uh, what I'd miss?" Gladstone suddenly asked, looking very confused and lost at the moment.

"Pretty much everything." Manny simply clapped.

...

"Sorry I- I don't speak horse." Gladstone said.

"MAN, HORS-" The Headless Man-Horse's angry clapping was abruptly interrupted as the Webbigail rescue team from the outside finally burst into the garden through a large hole cut through the door.

"There's no need to fear! For Gizmoduck is here! Unhand her villain!" Fenton ordered heroically and then paused after seeing Webby high atop Magica's head wriggle out of her miniature red Scrooge McDuck jacket and stuff one end of it deep into her eye right socket and pull the other end up out of the left.

Pulling back hard on both ends of the jacket sticking out of the sorceress' eyes, the top hat wearing duckling stood up and screamed a loud muffled furious scream along with Magica who fumbled about blindly as the Number One Dime fell out of her fingers and onto floor.

"...Hey! Our kid is doing pretty great." Fenton smiled and relaxed a bit after realizing everything was in control.

Penumbra gasped. "She has returned! That wicked Earth witch!" The young moonlander warrior clenched her fists together and began to march straight into the battlefield, she was ready to fight.

"I'll take her bare-fisted."

"Nope!" Gyro suddenly pulled her back and put her in her place. "You're a kid, I'm an adult. And as adult, I ORDER you stand back, OUT OF DANGER. Hmm, at least one of us has to be the responsible one here..."

"And as a kid, I hate you Earther."

"Tell me something I don't know." Gyro said.

...

"When my mother left, she took everything my father cared about."

"So she left you?" The scientist asked in clear conceited indifference.

"...So I hunted her down, used my intense warrior training to track her through the barren Moon desert." Penumbra paused to slam her first together. "Buried her."

...

"You killed her?"

"No, I swore to find whoever defeated her in battle first and avenge her death, Moon warrior's code." The moondander paused again before switching her focus back to Webby and Magica.

"...Kick her in the HEAAAD!"

"RRRRrrr-rrrraaaaAAGGGHHH!" The massive undead skeleton sorceress growled fiercely as she finally regained regained control, quickly grabbed the struggling duckling from off of her head and lifted her up in her tight grasp.

"Hhmph!" And she punched her.

Webby's sore, limp, exhausted battered little body flew far backwards as Magica aimed directly at her face and sent her flying, only to quickly pull her back and snatch her up in her hands like a little feathered Yo-Yo on a chain.

"Oooh, lovely..." Watching in serene peaceful glee, the sorceress' cold face light up as the bruised young duckling in her grasp breathed heavily and shut her eyes, just barely hanging onto the last tread of her life.

"And again! HAAA!" Magica laughed loudly and punched her again, not forgetting to yank her back in like before afterwards.

"And again!"

Pow!

"And again!"

Pow!

"And AGAIN-"

"-Hhhmm..." Webby squeaked softly, letting tears spill from out of her eyes.

SLAP! Magica roughly slapped her across the face in spite. "Quiet you sniveling meddlesome little- you think the world cares about you CRY-ING?!"

"STOOOPPP!" Penumbra quickly run right up the Magica as Gyro tried his best to pull her back to safety.

"NO! Get back!"

"Oh. It's you..." The sorceress quieted down to a hushed, cold whisper.

"...You want some of THIS?!" Magica proudly dangled Webby's heavily beaten up body in front the young moonlader's face by her chain. Needless to say, she and everyone else was speechless.

...

"One more time. And if she makes it, well, we'll save a fortune on funeral costs won't we now?"

"Well Mr. Magical Lucky Clovers! Do something!" Gyro grabbed Gladstone Gander by his shoulders and shook him about.

"Uhhh! I- I don't-"

-POW!

Wearing only a fancy black top hat atop her head, a heavy iron band locked tightly around her neck, and pair delicate of spectacles on her bill, Webby was punched straight across the garden by Magica and hit Bouncer Beagle directly in the face, knocking him down to floor as she laid motionless flat on top of him.

"Ha ha! Yesss!" The sorceress laughed. "Take that uninspired large Beagle Boy who has no real relevance to the plot!"

"WEBBY!" Carefully scooping up the motionless duckling in his gloves, Fenton gently nudged her with a single gimzo-finger and supported her head from falling backwards. "Don't worry Webby, you're going to be okay, just hang in there."

...

"...Hey Webby! Nice hat." Launchpad suddenly perked up, blissfully unconcerned about Webby's now completely defenseless vulnerable state.

"Launchpad! This is serious!" Fenton scolded him. "Webby could be seriously hur-"

"-RRRRRRRAA-AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"What?!-"

The duckling immediately sprung up in a muffled screaming raging fit and quickly ran back into action. Snatching up the black Scrooge McDuck walking cane Circe had given her earlier, Webby aimed the white tip of it high up at Magica.

"Boys, AVERT your eyes." Ma Beagle ordered. "We're got ourselves a youngin' running around in the altogether on our hands..."

"But- But Ma!" Boucher pleaded. "We wanna see the kid beat Magica's as-"

"-AVERT, YOUR, EYES."

"...Aw phooey." Bouncer muttered as the three Beagle Boys quickly did as they were told and simply turned around.

...

"-Rrrrrrr!" Meeting her opponent on the battlefield, Magica growled and lifted up Lena's body from the back of her neck and legs, holding her horizontal with her mouth wide open aimed directly at Webby.

"Fine then! Pew Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew Pew!" The sorceress tugged back on Lena's legs and somehow shot burning blasts of hot magic straight out of her bill.

Perfectly dodging every single blast with a set of skilled acrobatic flips and a high flying leap, Webby sent the final shot of magical energy straight back at Magica's face with a swing of the cane.

"AAUUGH! Whaaa? No! NO! HOW?! Whaaa?!" Magica recoiled backwards as Webby then clambered high up her ribcage and stuck her cane underneath the sorceress' bill.

Extererting the last bit of her adrenaline boosted strength, the wildy enraged little duckling stood to her feet on Magica's shoulders and pulled back hard on the cane, causing her neck to snap far backwards as bright red magic shone from the cracks.

"Wow, there's just no stopping this kid..." Fenton stared in silent disbelief and blinked from behind his visor.

"Ha ha ha." Launchpad laughed wholeheartedly. "You see, one sure thing about Webby is, she's sweet, kind, caring, kind, a good friend, kind, caring, she likes pink, a swell cuddle bug, and a hugger."

"HHHHHHHHRRRRR!"

"AAUUGH- AAAAAUGH."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUGHH-"

-Snap!

The sorceress' head was violently torn clean off her neck and cracked upon impact after hitting the floor.

Leaping down and landing safely on her hands and feet, Webby stared forward in unthinking overwhelming malice as Magica's motionless bony remains collapsed face first right down beside her in a heavy cloud of dust.

"...Oh." Launchpad turned around. "Also she's real stubborn."

...

"BLAAAAAUUH-AAAuuGGHHH!" Two brand new smaller heads suddenly burst forth from Magica's skeleton form as she slowly pushed herself back to her feet and screamed and loud banshee like scream.

One head was just like her last skull, and the other, disturbingly enough, features and bill were upside down on her sickly green feathered, distorted face.

"Ohhhhmmm C'Mmmmmmmooonn!" Working fast and running light on her feet, Webby dashed up to Manny and quickly unscrewed his masked Scrooge McDuck head off his neck without any hesitation.

"?" The Headless Man-Horse clapped.

"...Well? What's goin' on?" Black Arts Beagle asked, still facing to opposite direction like he was told.

"Nothing, the kid just decapitated a poor defenceless Headless Man-Horse. That's all really, hmm, no big deal." Gyro calmly explained.

Holding the stone head up to Magica after getting her now questionable attention by kicking her in her giant shins, Webby pulled the black mask off it's cold glaring eyes and met it's stare straight with Magica's.

"Hmm?" The sorceress slightly titled her heads and then paused in sudden, centuries long built-up, vengeful fury.

"...McDDDUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKK-"

-Wham! Magica's distracted and heavily disfigured skeleton remains mindlessly pounced faces first against the far wall hard enough to into knock herself stunned and all the way back into the Shadow Realm as the duckling threw Manny's stone head across the garden.

"Yyyehhsss!" Webby clenched her fist in celebration before quickly scooping up her Uncle Scrooge's Number One Dime in her hand and threw Lena's body limp over her shoulder.

"Wait." Launched paused and gasped loudly. "Is that-"

"-C'mmmmmon!" Webby waved forward and began to make a run for it, but was suddenly tripped up by eight familiar shadowy strings that reappeared and quickly re-attached themselves to the cuffs around Lena's wrists and then back to Magica fingertips.

"Ah... ha...ha ha..." To Webby's horror, the skeleton sorceress slowly came back to life and spoke with a cold sinister voice from both of her mouths that unsurprisingly sent shivers down her spine.

"...Not ...yet." She spoke from her single upside down head made from flesh.

"I'm... hungry Webby. Hungry..."

"And I like shadows Webby... They're... tasty... I've got to start eating at home more."

"Kid, just back away slowly. No sudden moments." Ma Beagle told her.

"...Please." Magica lifted a shaking skeleton hand upwards and reached out for Lena while Webby slowly backed away with her in wide-eyed fear.

"Please. Just...one... little... bite..."

...

"No? FINE!" Magica quickly shifted back into full speed and suddenly yanked Lena and Webby close towards her with the puppet strings connected to her fingers.

"Nnnmmmmmmm!" Webby cried out and pulled the hardest she could as she held tightly onto her best freind's cuffed left wrist and her Uncle Scrooge's Number One Dime in her shaking hands.

"...Tsk tsk tsk. Poor, sad, SAD, LITT-LE Webbigail." Magica sighed with mocking pity in her cold voices. "It seems that her in all her grande display of expected dumb dumbness, she has forgotten her best friend was only a shadow, my own shadow I'm sorry to say. And even in death, she belongs to me. Hhmph, all strings attached."

"Nnnnmmmm! NNNNNNNNMMM!" Webby shook her head with tears in her eyes, and in a loud emotional outburst, light blue magic suddenly burst out of the golden ring Doofus has strapped tightly onto her left wrist all those centuries ago.

Connecting to the metal cuff locked around Lena's wrist, the magic of friendship joined together in between them as they both began to glow a radiant shade of blue that ignited Scrooge's Number One Dime up in smoke.

"Heh heh heh. Wait WHAAAAT?!" Magica was visibly stunned.

"Oooooh." Launchpad stared in inignorant blissful wonder. "Pretty..."

Growing way to hot to handle, the Number One Dime burned an engraving right into Webby's feathered palm and shot a glistening ray of magical bright blue light straight at Magica De Spell that quickly caught her up in it's pull.

"Wh-What?! No. No! NO! Webby! WEBBY! WEBBY!" The struggling two-headed sorceress was thrown all around the garden as the sliver dime finally slipped out of Webby's tight grasp and positioned itself behind Magica, slowly sealing her inside it and pulling Webby and Lena along with her as her fingerstips where still connected to the shadow puppet's wrists.

But neither Magica or Webby were willing to give up yet. Webby still held onto Lena with all her strength, giving Magica the upperhand to ever so slightly pull herself free from the Number One Dime's attempts to banish her again in the cold, dark, nether realm within itself.

"Webby! Lena's already dead!" Fenton yelled to her. "Just let her go! If you don't let her go, you could get sucked in too! And you're REALLY not overdressed for the occasion!"

Realizing what she ultimately had to do, Penumbra shoved the speechless Gyro aside and calmly made her way up to Webby who was still very much refusing to let go of her best friend.

"...Uncovered smol little Earth child. In what I'm guessing was over thousands of cycles ago, Magica has never moved on from this grim hostile antagonism she holds against you and your family."

"She's the same immature, loud-mouthed, haughty, cruel, perverted, Moon pox ridden wench she anyways was."

"HEY!" Magica yelled, half of her still sticking outside of the dime.

"She never grew up, never adapted, never learnt her lesson. But you're better than that, I know you are. This Lena is dead, this world is dead, but it may not be too late to start things over. And unless you move on, you'll end up exactly like her."

The young moonlander crouched down to the duckling's level and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Webby, just let it go... And if wouldn't be so weird and wrong right now, I'd give you another hug..."

Webby looked a little downhearted as the wheels in her mind turned. She knew Penumbra was right, and that her best friend Lena was long dead now with no way to save her.

Sighing sadly through her clamped shut bill, she slowly began to loosen her tight grip on Lena's wrist, but was suddenly and unexpectedly choked and yanked forward by her neck, yet she still didn't fully let go of her best friend's cold feathered wrist.

"...If I'm going to spend the next-" The sorceress paused to very roughly pull the terrified duckling closer to her with her chain. "-FIFTEEN or so years banished between dimensions, I do believe I'd appreciate a little company."

"Come along now little Webby, for we have an eternity's worth of time for you and your Aunt Magica to discover many new ways in making you squeal..."

Deciding that she finally had enough of Magica's childish games and verbal abuse, Webby slowly let go of Lena's wrist and let it limply drop with a dark, no nonsense scowl plastered across her face.

Gathering the truly final last bit of strength, Webby tightly gripped her end of the heavy chain in her hands and ran forward as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"...Rrrrrrrrrrr- RRRRAAAAAAAA-"

"Ah ha ha ha. Oh no." Magica froze.

"-HYAAAAAHHH!" Webby leaped forward with mighty flying sideways kick and violently kicked her arch-enemy's feathered upside down head clean off her body with a loud sickening crack, casing her to lose her hold on Webby's chain seconds before she and Lena's lifeless body were sealed away forever inside Scrooge's McDuck's prized Number One Dime.

"...YESSS!" Penumbra and Fenton cheered together.

Falling to the stone garden floor along with the burning Number One Dime, Webby watched in breathy angry silence as the remaining distorted head of Magica De Spell on the floor shrieked and screamed several vile choking curses down upon her and her family.

"NOOO! MY POWERS! MY BODY! MY EVERYTHIIIIING!" She screamed.

"CURSE YOU VANDERQUACK! CURSE YOU! BY THE NAME OF CIRCE, CURSE YOU AND FAMILY LINE, CURSE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN! YOUR BLOODS SHALL FILL THE RIVERS OF TARTARUS!"

"CURSE YOU MCDUCK! CUUUURSE YOU! If I had my way, every single member of clan McDuck from ONE to a HUNDRED would choke to death on their own eggshells!"

"CUUUURSE YOU!" She spat in malice. "THIS ISN'T THE END, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM ME, YOU CAN NEVER, THE THOUGHT OF ME GOES ON FOREVER!"

"I live...in your... nightmares..."

Then everything fell silent. As the dark sorceress' demonic yellow eyes rolled back into her head, her bill wide and agape breathed one final breath as her entire head turned to stone. Magica De Spell, the Sorceress of the Shadows and The Shadow Queen, had finally, finally been overthrown.

"Oooooh. Pretty..." Launchpad was still somehow hypnotized by the magic of friendship.

"...Well, I declare." Ma Beagle stood impressed. "Your unruly, disrespectful, scuddy little McDuck brat here actually pulled it off." She paused to take it all in.

"Bless her stubborn little her heart."

...

"Wait, where were we now?" The pilot quickly shook himself out of his blissful ignorant trace to see Webby standing hunched over breathing heavily as she faced away from everyone and stared angrily into blank space, still wearing her black top hat atop her head.

"...Uh, Webby?" Launchpad began to slowly make his way up to her before he was stopped by Fenton who rolled past him the Gizmosuit and blocked his path.

"Everyone, if I may have your complete corporation, I respectfully implore you all to stand back."

Quickly guiding Webby behind a tall stone pillor, Fenton took out something from inside the Gizmosuit and fittted it around the unresponsive duckling.

Now wearing a short, light blue T-shirt that read 'Number One Gimzofan!' on the front, Gizmoduck carefully carried Webby back to the group and held her up, her look of unflinching focused anger and glasses still on her face.

"...There, we're good." Fenton smiled, while Gyro was as well utterly and completely speechless in wide-mouthed confused anger.

"Alright boys, she's good..." Ma Beagle gave her sons permission to look again.

"I- I- Did- Did that..." Gyro stuttered.

"...Did that SICK, IRRITATING little blue space mutant actually do something intelligent for once and talk sense into this wildly abnormal freakish kid?! NO! I refuse to believe it! I won't!"

"But wouldn't that just make you even more ignorant Earther?" Penumbra asked, causing the scientist's face to twitch and convulse as his brain tried it's best to reject what his ears had just heard.

"...EEENNNNNOOOOOOUUUUUUGGGHHH!"

Slam! Gyro slammed his foot down hard on the floor, just in time for a loud, almost indistinguishable thunder sounding blast to go off in the distance and echo all throughout the temple. Moments later, everything grew eerily silent.

...

"Waitwhat?" Gyro questioned.

"Yeah that definitely wasn't you..." Fenton calmly agreed.

And then it happened. Hundreds upon hundreds of dry living skeletons of all shapes and sizes quickly burst hands first through the floor in flashes of bright red light and poured down into the temple garden through the small skylight on the ceiling like angry disturbed ants out of an ant hill.

With deep distressing inhuman moans that sang over each other in a feather-raising unharmonic fashions, the ever-growing horde of tortured ageless zombies screamed in cursed agony and all struggled to make their way towards target. All towards one little petrified duck in particular, Webby Vanderquack.

"...WAAAAAAAHHH?!" The entire group except Gladstone Gander cowered back in fear.

"WE'RE NOT GOOD! WE'RE NOT GOOD!" Webby tried to say through her tightly clamped bill.

"Jumpin' juggarnauts! Run for your lives!" Boucher Beagle quickly picked up his two younger brothers along with his mother and made off with them out of the garden.

"Great idea, LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Scooping up Gyro, Penumbra, Launchpad, Manny the Headless Man-Horse, and a certain stone head on the floor as fast as he could in his strong gizmo-arms, Fenton somehow carried all of his friends and followed after the Beagles. But unbeknownst to him, he had accidentally grabbed the wrong stone head by mistake.

"...Hey, uh, guys? You uh. You forgot your-" Gladstone paused to pick up Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime off the floor and watch as all the skeletons in the garden completely ignored him and slowly chased after Fenton and his friends.

"-your... dime..."


	25. Life, the Duckverse and Everything!

...

"Well, did ya load up the gold?" Ma Beagle asked.

"What do I look like to you an imbecile?! Of course I loaded up the gold!" Gyro Gearloose angrily blurted out. "What kind of imbecile would I be if the gold needed to be loaded up and I didn't load up the gold?!"

...

"Well, then we have absolutely nothing to worry about now, now do we?"

"...We have absolutely EVERYTHING to worry about! The threat of the last of humanity's extinction, possibly being lost forever in the time stream, and the Time Tub is still filled with water when it shouldn't be!" Scrooge McDuck's head scientist paused to take a deep breathy breath.

"And if one TINY singular switch on one TINY singular panel is flipped the wrong way, well. It could gain sentience and ALL BLOW UP-"

"-Oh hey guys!" A small empty skeleton duckling wearing puffy blue swimming trunks and a wide relaxed smile across his bill sat up beside another small skeleton duckling and waved from inside the warm bubbling water of the Time Tub.

Upon recognizing the distinctive familiar voice of one of her closest best friend's, Webby gasped in clamped muffled silence within the safety of Gizmoduck's metallic grasp.

"Offending blue offspring of Della Duck?" Penumbra recognized the familiar voice as well.

Sighing quietly after being let back onto the floor of the dining room by his former dummy intern, Gyro straightened his hat with Lil' Bulb sat underneath and frowned his usual self-important cold frown down upon the two skeletons below his crossed arms.

"...Annoying small skeletal child, out. For THIS is not an ACTUAL hot tub, and therefore it cannot be used for ACTUAL hot tubbing."

Funny, that all sounded awfully familiar somehow..." The first skeleton thought aloud.

"Wait, I- I believe I know you from somewhere." Fenton slowly spoke up. "Dewey, was it?"

...

"Ha ha ha, I'm not Dewey. I'm Launchpad." The skeleton said with a grin.

"But wait, I'm Launchpad." The other Launchpad started to look even more confused than normal.

"And if I'm Launchpad, who are you? Or- Or if you're Launchpad, then I must be-" The pilot paused to let the plane of thought in mind crash down onto his dark, unlit, inner runway.

"-somebody who's... not Launchpad."

"Trust me Launchpad, you're Launchpad." Gyro calmly reassured.

"...Oh. Well if he's Launchpad, who I am then?"

"LAUNCHPAD!"

"Yes?" Both Launchpad's simultaneously perked up at the same time.

"Launchpad! Tell the imbecile here he's Launchpad!" Gyro ordered.

"...Okay." The pilot paused to prepare for his big, important moment.

"Here's he's Launchpad."

...

"Why do I even bother?" The scientist rolled his eyes, moments before the temple continued to shake and rumble apart.

"Uhhhhhhhhh." Fenton looked around cautiously, trying his best not to panic.

"...Both of you, out! Out out out out out out out!" Gyro quickly snatched up the two small hot tubbers by the backs of their necks and hurried them away.

"Aww, no fair! We claimed it fiiiirst!" The second skeleton duckling complained in an unfamiliar, feminine Hispanic voice.

"OUT!"

"...Major league decepcionante." She muttered.

"Everyone who's living aboard! We've got- Wha-ahhhhuh? Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAT?" Gyro fell blindly to the floor as the repeating heavy vibrations of incoming tank treads filled the entirety of The Temple of the Lucky Goose.

"Weeeee've got trouble..." Fenton whispered as he unconsciously hugged Webby tighter in his gimzo-arms.

BOOM!

Rolling through a hole blown into the wall quite literally big enough to drive a tank through, a massive red and black painted spiked war machine with guns and sharp pointy weapons of all over it plowed straight through the fancy dining room, not even bothering to come to a stop with two ancient skeletal ducklings and the loopy zombified Goddess of the Moon directly in it's path of wanton, mindless destruction.

"...Keeeeen gea-" crunch. The pair of small skeleton ducklings and Selene were immediately crushed flat underneath the tank treads and spit out the back as their cracked hollow bones scattered all across the floor.

"Theeeeey, were already dead right? There was no saving them right?" Gyro was starting to feel a little bit guilty as Webby just looked visibly horrified for her dead friends.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, for I am tonight's entertainment!" An eerily familiar deep and raspy unhinged voice announced proudly from inside the tank as it came to a stop inches in front of the time tub. "And you won't be ditching me so easily this time, captive audience..."

"I, am the COSMIC HORROR, that stalks, in the DARKEST NIGHT!"  
Billows of dark red smoke poured out of the hatch as a mysterious masked caped figure emerged from the top of the tank.

"I am the vengeful screenwriter, that spits upon your GRAVES!"

"I- AM-"

"-Deathwing Duck!" The draped figure dramatically lifted up his torn red and black cape, showing off his enpty skeleton body with another eerily familiar looking skeleton duck melded onto his ancient scorched form.

"And you, little shnookums are-" The caped invader paused to pull a slow neck slicing motion across his throat as he aimed a fully loaded mounted gatling gun straight at Webby's face.

"-toassst... Now, put her down, nice and easy now. Or soon, you'll allll be pushing up roses." He growled with a wicked sharp toothy smile across his bill.

"Well, he's back. Darker and edgier than ever I'm afraid..." Gyro sighed sadly while Lil' Bulb tried his best to motion to his inventor father up towards the danger now quickly approaching visible through a massive hole in the high ceiling.

"Excuse me? Darker and edgier died out years ago with the millennials!" Deathwing gripped his gun tighter as his smile grew unnaturally wider and wider. "Nowadays we call it, grim and gritty..."

Refusing to put Webby down and in danger, Fenton quickly placed her in Manny the now Truly Headless Man-Horse's forearms and bravely approached Deathwing from high atop his tank.

"Misunderstood dead hero guy, unclench your fists, lower your shoulders, step away from the gun, then come back with a clear head and redouble your best efforts. I still believe in you young man!"

"...Oh really? Soooo, don't think I have it in me huh? Think I'm too chicken to do it huh?! Kid, has your old Uncle Jim ever told you the story of the little girl, the gatling gun, and the pit, of eternal despair?" The skeleton asked. "Has he? Huh? HAS HE?!"

Webby slowly and silently shook her head in fear.

"...No? Well let me tell you." Deathwing continued his grim monologue. "I admit it. I've killed women, and I've killed children! I've killed just about everything that walks or waddles at one time or another! And I'm here to kill you too, little Gail, for what you did to, HER."

"And what I think you need now is, IS A FULL HEAVY DOSE OF REALITY!" The skeleton immediately aimed the gatling gun's sights directly at Webby's face again. "BECAUSE IN ABOUT FIVE SECONDS, it'll hit you harder than you can ever imagine."

"Suck lead girly..."

"Darkwing stop!" Launchpad quickly stood in front of Webby and held his arms out with a serious frown.

"...Fan?"

"This is not who you are! You're not a villain, you're a hero. Especially not one who causes mindless destruction and pain to the innocent. On, purpose..." He blinked.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, FIIIINE!" Deathwing groaned in audible annoyance. "Tell you what, you help me take over what's left of this god-forsaken rotten planet! And I'll continue to let you breathe. Deal?"

...

"No." Launchpad firmly said. "The real D.W. taught me to stand up for myself and for what's right. To keep it all together, to never let a few wrecked snack stands or crashes get you down, and to always look out for the little guys. Literally..."

"You all go on ahead! I'll hold him off!" The pilot ordered boldly without looking back.

"Uh, last time we heard that, we lost an intern." Gyro commented.

"Well well. Well we'll see about that! Ex-sidekick! Ex-fan! Ex-compadre! Ex-breather! Ex-"

"-Let's go." Gyro calmly spoke up as Deathwing continued to mindlessly ramble on and on. "He gets sent safe back to the past later, he'll be fine."

"But- But Dr. Gearloose, aren't we forgetting someon-" Fenton was quickly interrupted by the sounds of someone or something clumsily struggling and banging their way through the temple, but instead of walking through the massive tank sized hole in the wall like expected, the intruder fought with the heavy door to the room instead.

Breathing heavily, a short stubby figure threw the undamaged door to the room wide open and stood in the door frame with several detached skelton hands still grasping tightly onto his tattered criminal clothes.

"...I done tolds ya I could take care of kids!" Bigtime Beagle proudly held Huey Duck unarmed up by his arm, still wearing his metal F.O.W.L. mask around his head.

"Wait. Is that my tank?"

...

"Youurrs?" Deathwing turned his gun around and aimed it at the very confused Beagle Boy behind him.

"Oh great, more guests. I mean you coulda knocked! But noo-oo! You had to waltz in all uninvited, like you owned the place! Biiiiiiiiig mis-taaake..."

"Planning on raining on my convoy huh? Ruining all my fun huh?! I don't think so..." Deathwing chuckled softly as he prepared to pull back the trigger and blast Bigtime and Huey straight to kingdom come.

"For I, am Deathwing Duck! And I pity the poor fool who stands in my way!"

"Listen up Deathwing!" Ma Beagle pulled out her purse and marched forward. "He may be a poor, witless, good-for-nothing fool that's gotten too big for his britches and has hit every single branch on the way down the Beagle family tree, but he's my fool!"

"You mess with him, you're gonna have to mess with all of us first. Nobody threatens the Beagle Boys on my watch, that's my job! Especially a no account low-down pirooting scoundrel that looks like he was in the outhouse when the lightning struck and smells bad enough to gag a maggot."

"WHHHAATT?!" The skeletal super villain stood back in shock.

"Oh, she's good..." Fenton had to admit.

...

"You all go on ahead. I'll hold him off." Launchpad repeated himself, his tone of voice just as serious as before.

"No. We can't leave him behind and let him heroically sacrifice himself for the greater good." Penumbra said. "What we need is like, a really really big round rock to crush him dead with!"

"That will show him!" The young moonlander hit her fists together.

"Oh? And where do you suppose we're going to a find this, really REALLY big round rock of yours- oh my gee willikers..." Gyro suddenly fell speechless.

Although he still couldn't see clearly without his glasses, he could still barely make out a certain really really big round rock high in the dark red sky above slowly but surely hurling straight down towards The Temple of the Lucky Goose from space in a massive firey blaze.

As Selene's divine power slowly faded away from her dry scattered remains, the long abanonded golden city of Tranquility hidden on the dark side of the her celestial body in the sky burned to a black crisp and fell away.

"What? What's with all the-" Penumbra stood speechless as well as she, Webby, Fenton, Manny, Launchpad, and all the Beagles except Big Time finally took notice of the moon falling clean out of the sky.

"-I have a big mouth."

"...What? What are y'all looking at?" Bigtime asked.

"Yeah, what are y'all looking at? Hey! Don't ignore me when I threaten your life! Respect my dominance!" Deathwing ordered.

"Silence warrior poser." Penumbra stared intently up at the sky. "My home planet is about to destroy us all..."

"Uh, the moon's not a planet." Gyro calmly stated.

"What?"

"Y-Yeah, the moon's not a planet." Deathwing stuttered as he held onto his gun.

"Dr. Gearloose is right, the moon's not a planet." Fenton politely argued.

"Yep. All God's little beagles know the moon's not a planet..." Ma Beagle nodded in agreement.

"The moon's, not, a, planet." Manny clapped.

"Mmmph." Webby humbly aggred.

...

"Launchpad back me up here!" Penumbra begged as the pilot just rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"I thought the moon was a cheese. Preferably, green swiss..."

"Nooo!" The young betrayed moonlander fell flat to her knees in defeat.

"I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming..." The small skeleton duckling's detached head on the floor repeated itself over and over in a hushed panic as the rest of her scattered bones shook from the growing moon tremors.

"...Enough with the chitchat! I don't need this baby to take you out, I'll cut you all down to size myself!" Leaving his fully loaded gun behind, Deathwing leaped down from the tank and quickly revved up a chainsaw in his skeletal hands.

"Time for you all to go beddy-bye, geek squuaad!" The menacing skeleton held his roaring weapon high above his hat with a wildly deranged cackle and charged forward.

With a sudden loud gasp and whistle, Launchpad called his apocalyptic cockroach friends from out of nowhere which carried another chainsaw up to him, just in time for him to pick it up and deflect Deathwing's attack, wrecking both of their chainsaws in the process.

"Wait wait, WHAAATT?!" The skeleton began to growl a dark beastly undead growl.

"...I've already told you guys twice already. You all go on ahead. I'll hold him off." The determined pilot fought to hold his old childhood hero back away from the group of time travels.

"I've crashed two hundred planes, five hundred and fifty seven cars, ninety four trucks, seven submarines, twelve boats, Mr. Dee's houseboat, sixteen bicycles, three helicopters, two parade floats, one wheelchair, a train, a bus, a UFO, Mr. McDee's stocks, a navy destroyer, and a canoe."

"You're a menace to society you know that?" Gyro told him.

"...Just take the kids to safety. This end of the world needs a hero, a watchful guardian, a silent protector, a pilot. No simple moon crash is going to be the end of-" The pilot paused to suddenly trip up his clumsy skeleton adversary and then step back out of the way.

"-Launchpad McQuack!"

"...What about your little cockroach companions?" Gyro asked. "I mean, surviving the apocalypse is one thing, but-"

"-Oh, they didn't survive the apocalypse." Launchpad casually interrupted while forcing a weakly struggling and complaining Deathwing Duck into a tight headlock on the floor. "They were in my jacket the whole time."

...

"He's the hero we didn't deserve, yet nobody ever wanted." Gyro calmly began with a cold frown as his small team of time travelers and the Beagle family gathered in the time tub, both Webby and Huey now safely in Gizmoduck's arms.

"A silent protector, a watchful guardian-"

"NOOOOOOO! Lemme at em! Lemme at em!" Deathwing wildly swinged his arms about in rage.

"NOOOOOOO! Sacrifices must not be made!" Penumbra struggled helplessly while being held back in Ma Beagle's strong arms.

"-Launchpad McQuack..." The scientist finished.

"NOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

"Farwell." Fenton saluted with his free hand. And with that, the time tub and all it's travelers flashed away safe in the blink of an eye.

...

"There's getting dangerous, there's getting really dangerous, and then there's getting really really REALLY dangerous. And buddy, you've long crossed that line!" Launchpad said.

"...Real shame." Deathwing sighed. "We coulda worked out great together. We coulda been a true tag-team and untold chaos and worldwide destruction. But you just, HAD to spoil my fun, just like everyone else-" The skeleton paused with a eerie calm look of acceptance on his skull.

"-goody-two-shoes..."

"Squeak squeak!" One of Launchpad's friends quickly spoke back.

"...Yeah! You tell him Arnie!"

"Uh, L.P.?" Gladstone Gander spoke up from behind him. "We've- We've got- Aaagh-" Finally pushing their way past the goose, the army of undead skeletons knocked him onto the floor and flooded into the room in random directions.

"-company!"

"Oi! Make way you blasted barbarians!"

"...Green bean?" Gladstone froze as singular confused skeleton duckling holding a cane and wearing a familiar black top hat atop his head while walked out into the room with a scowl.

"Wait, Uncle Scrooge?"

"Mr. McDee!" Launchpad gasped in shock upon quickly recognizing the skeleton's miserly disgruntled tone and put his hands on his small shoulders.

"Can I get you something?! Coffee, tea, milk, maybe an eggnog? Oh no! He's gotton so old and cranky he shrunk down into Louie!"

"What?"

"-AAAHH!" The pilot flinched as the skeleton suddenly smacked him in the chest with his cane.

"Not the time lad! Where's Webbigail?! Where's the kids?! Where's Beakley?! Where's-" Scrooge paused after recognizing Gladstone Gander stading beside him in his green bathrobe.

"-You? YOU?!"

"Hi Uncle McScroogey Bones." The goose waved.

"...YOUUUU?! Hands off my Number One you sacrilegious stickyfingers!" The skeleton fought the retrieve his precious lucky dime from Gladstone's pocket.

"Okay. How did he-"

"-Mr. McDee is real serious when it comes to money." Launchpad interrupted as he tried his hardest to pull his boss away from Gladstone by his legs. "He won't even let me take enough from the mansion to get a pack of crackers without him chasing me down! He KNOWS!"

'Rrrrrrrrraagghh!" Scrooge growled. "Hands off you accursed aviator! With- Without my Number One, the- the universe might as well just end without it."

"Oh blathering blatherskite..." The skeleton melded tightly onto Deathwing Duck muttered sadly. L

"...HEY! Pipe down you junk-headed halfwitted empty-headed excuse for a wart!" The skeleton super villain yelled and punched at the long deceased duck connected to him in sudden unbridled rage.

"Even my flaming burns make better company! Wait, f-f-flaming... b-burns?" Deathwing stuttered in fearful realization as he and all the rest of the skeletons were immediately engulfed in flames and heavy black smoke.

"-AAAHH! AAAHH! AAAHHHHHHH!"

"Whew! It is just me, or is it getting real HOT in here?" Launchpad wiped the sweat from his forehead, umaware of the world quickly growing closer and closer to complete apocalyptic annihilation.

"There ya go." Scrooge quickly calmed down and lazily laid on the floor in defeat as he slowly burned away into ashes. "End of the universe..."

...

"Wait, LAUNCHPAAAAD!" Gladstone suddenly run forward to try protect the pilot with a hug.

"Huh?"

"I've got-" TWHOOOOOM!

Fire and brimstone mixed with a sulfuric burning bright light instantly tore into the temple and filled every last crevice of the ancient, Greek structure.

Expanding and burning straight through the horde of chared, blackened, screaming skeletons in the room, the sudden lunar impact pulled reality itself into the empty shadowy darkness left behind.

"It's finally here kids. The true GRAND finale of the world. And it's-" Deathwing sighed one last time in calm blissful joy as his old outfit and hat burned away into flakey black nothingness.

"-beautiful..."

"...Kids." The final remaining skeleton held out his tiny shaking hand at the disfigured melting emotionless shapes of his family members in front of him, all of them completely decimated by the angry flaming wrath of the falling moon.

The deed was done. The world had finally been reduced to an empty, dark, endless abyss.

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Well Gladstone, aren't you proud of yourself?" Gladstone Gander spoke down to himself, completely and entirely unharmed while floating weightlesly literally in the middle of the darkness of desolate oblivion.

"The Luckiest Person in the World, and what do you have to show for it, what have you ever accomplished, you know you deserve this right?" He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in disappointment of himself.

"Even your own family despised you, aren't you just ashamed of yourself? What have you ever done good for the world? Did you stop to thank it, give anything of value back to it?"

"The cure for cancer, world peace, the increase of scientific and technological research for better of our future?"

"No. All you did was just sit back and watch as the world handed everything you could have possibly ever wanted and more, right into your fingertips."

"Uncle Scrooge and Donald were right about you from the beginning. All that luck, all that natural charm and good looks, all the endless untapped reality warping potential, yet you couldn't even save one man's life."

"Aw phooey." The goose kicked at nothing and let his head and arms fall forward with a sigh.

"Well. I guess nobody's luck can last forever..."

...

Suddenly, a disembodied floating ethereal ram head with glowing eyes and a powerful celestial aura made it's presence known to Gladstone and spoke to directly to him from above in a deep, booming voice.

"Gladstone Gander! The world has ended! As the final living being in this universe, you have been chosen to-"

"-Oh, so this is what's it's like to be dead then." A very much alive and well Launchpad suddenly interrupted, floating alone with all his cockroach buddies in his jacket within the empty expansive void. "Just kinda like, a whole bunch of, errie black darkness."

"L.P.?" Gladstone turned around in the air after hearing the pilot's familiar carefree voice.

"SILENCE MORTAL! THE HIGH COUNCIL SHALL DECIDE YOUR FATE!" The otherworldly godly being exclaimed loudly. "As the final living being in this universe, you have been chosen to-"

"-Wait, if- if you guys can hear me, then am I not really dead?" Launchpad questioned aloud. "Or am I just, mentally and metaphorically blinded by everlasting absence of light?"

"NO! YOU DON'T COUNT!"

"Oh." The pilot paused. "Well what about Arnie?"

"WHAT?! NO!"

"Well what about Crash? Or- Or Bash? Or- Or Smash? Or- Or Car Crash? Or- Or Plane Crash? Or- Or-"

"-As the final living being in this universe you have been chosen to have the opportunity to recreate this world in your image!" The heavenly head spoke as fast as it possibly could.

"...I hear ya." Gladstone nodded.

"The fee is- twenty dollars! And ten cents! American currency! No tax, no refunds!"

Hearing this, the goose reached into his bathrobe pocket and pulled a single sliver coin out of it. "I've got a dime. With a witch and dead teenager trapped inside. That's gotta make it worth at least a couple hundred dollars more right?"

"NO! Twenty dollars! And ten cents!"

"...Huh?" Gladstone thought for a bit and turned back around in the air. "Launchpad, you got any spare change?"

"Hmm? Oh, let's see." The pilot dug his hands into his pants pockets. "Dirty bubblegum, a hair, a button, another button, a faceless battery powered batteries not included Megavolt action figure, a button, a lint, a bottle cap, a whatever this is, a genuine definitely not a fake licorice seed Louie once sold me..."

"Any more buttons? Gladstone asked.

"Nope, that's the last of them- Ahh! Nope, found another..." Launchpad said as he triumphantly held up his final loose pants button.

...

"...WELL?!" The head spoke up in loud floaty impatience.

"We're working on it! We're working on it! Sheesh, all you gods types are just so cantankerous." Gladstone began to mutter, just as a crisp green piece of paper non- coincidentally blew through the air and hit lightly hit him in the face.

"Ugh, again? Okay okay, let's see what you are this time. A winning lottery ticket? A round trip flight to a dream vacation in the baa-hamas? No, that would be ridiculous, why would you need-"

The goose paused as he pulled the piece of paper off his eyes and quickly recognised the all too familiar bill of Andrew Duckson in his hands.

"-Hey! Twenty dollars!"

"YOU'RE HIRED!" Immediately, the little proof of existence of reality left around Gladstone and Launchpad began to shift and swirl into a new beautiful genesis.

"Ahhhh! I never got meet Layman! And when the world needed me the most, I disa-PPEEEEEEARED!" Launchpad McQuack and all his cockroach friends were finally zapped back to their own time and families at McDuck manor.

"Well, I guess this is it then." The lucky goose began. "No more escaping your responsibilities, no more making up excuses. It's about time you got your hands dirty, got some work done, and ruled over your kingdom and it's people fairly."

*beat*

"...By doing, ahhhhhh-" Gladstone Gander laid back lazily in the air with a smile as his own universe literally built itself from the ground up in the image of his own personal ethics.

"-absolutely nothing..."


	26. BeagleTales!

...

"WaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAHHH-" Splash!

Holding tightly onto Huey as he hugged him close to his sturdy metallic armor, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, most famously known as Gizmoduck, along with Dr. Gyro Gearloose, Ma Beagle, the Beagle Boys, young Penumbra, Manny the Headless Man-Horse, and the upturned Time Tub all dropped high from the cloudless blue sky above into a shimmering shallow lake with a collective series of wide-spraying splashes.

As Gizmoduck and his companions quickly resurfaced from underneath the cool rippling water with the mostly helpless F.O.W.L. duckling safely in his hands, the quiet wooded great outdoors of beautiful Calisota past welcomed the group of time travelers in a warm sunny embrace of clean, unpolluted, summer fresh air.

"Hypothetically speaking, what would happen to the Gizmosuit, if it was, say, completely submerged in water?" Fenton asked with light chuckle and smile.

"It'd get wet." Gyro shook the water from out of Lil' Bulb's head and placed him back underneath his hat. "Fitting, for a nameless somebody here who's still wet behind the ears..."

"Ma, how he'd know?" A very wet Black Arts Beagle wondered.

"Is- Is every one okay? Dr. Gearloose, Penumbra, Beagles?" Fenton asked around.

Ma Beagle coughed up some water as Bouncer and Burger helped her to the edge of the lake. "Never better..."

"N- N- N-"

"...What's wrong with Penumbra?" Fenton quickly splashed his way up to her as she stuttered and starred directly up into the bright sun high above.

"A better question right now would be NOT wrong with Penumbra." Gyro somehow refused to shake his head down at her. "Honestly, I'd really like to know."

"Dr. Gearloose, please! Penumbra! C'mon, speak to me!"

"N- N- Ne- Ne-" The young moonlander barley managed to communicate amidst her mind-numbing shock.

"Oh, well she's fine I guess. Wait, what about Webby? Webby? Webby? Webby- WHERE'S WEBBY?!" Fenton passed off Huey into Gyro's arms and immediately began to search for her in water.

"Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no! What if she can't swim?! Wha-What if she's lost again in the time stream?! What if she's-"

"-Up a tree?" Gyro calmly interrupted with a cold frown as he held Huey sideways underneath his right arm.

Quickly getting the half-blind scientist's hint, Fenton paused and looked up to see Webby clinging precariously to the top of a tall pine tree in her Gizmoduck T-shirt. But from Gyro's perspective, she looked like only a little feathered blur with short legs and a long chain dangling down.

"...D-Don't worry Webby! Just- Just remain calm. I'll get you down! Just gotta, just gotta. Uhhh."

Quickly flipping down the makeshift ladder of branches on the tall conifer tree, the duckling safely leaped to her feet on the ground and posed proudly with her hands above her head, completely ignoring her Magica scratched up face and that she still couldn't speak with her bill tightly clamped shut the way it was.

"Oh wow." Fenton beamed and threw a couple of triumphant thumbs up in the air as he and the Beagle Boys clapped for her.

"Clap clap clap clap." Manny clapped along with them and then slowly paused after receiving a few awkward silent stares.

Clearly not enjoying the sudden unwanted attention that he had brought onto himself, the Headless Man-Horse quickly fitted Magica De Spell's disfigured stone head onto his neck and clapped once on the ground.

"What?"

...

"...Big Beagle! Time tub! Out of the lake! Let's go!" Gyro ordered as he stopped struggling with his definitely not wrecked sentient invention and pointed to a distant blurry Bouncer Beagle.

"Hold it! I give the orders to the Beagle Boys around here." Ma Beagle growled and then paused. "Bouncer, help the sorry man..."

"Sure thing Ma!" The massive Beagle Boy cheerfully pulled the submerged hot tub out of it's watery grave and carried it out onto the bank.

"Oh blathering blatherskite. That's- JUUUST what I was afraid of..."

"What?" Fenton rolled up curiously while Webby quietly fiddled with her clamping metal bill restraint beside him.

"Waterlogged." Gyro replied without bothering to look up from the Time Tub's control panel.

"Can you, run that by me again?"

"We're up the creek without a dinghy..."

"Uh! Could you please be, a little more specific?" He asked.

"WE'RE STUCK HEEERE!" Gyro suddenly spun around and shrilly screamed out at Fenton, causing him and Webby to jump back in surprise and hug each other in fear.

"...I-"

"-THHAAT'S RIGHT!" Gyro interrupted and continued his raving mad scientist monologue as he mindlessly swung Huey around by his legs.

"Stuck in the past! Time Tub's ina-functional! Gone kaput! Broken down! Given up the ghost! All washed up! Worthless! Completey worthless! Worthless worthless worthless!"

Ma Beagle just stared at him.

"How do you even put up with this, wildy outlandish loon?" She asked. "I mean look at me, I'm a mother, I have to put up them everyday. I don't get it, why don't you just quit?"

Fenton sighed. "I know Dr. Gearloose is a bit... out there. But he how genuinely means well. Like his inventions, he's not really evil. Just, misunderstood."

"...Hey, umm, Dr. Gerloos-"

"-WHHAAAT?!" Gyro almost instantly turned around in unfiltered wild anger.

"Maybe we, just, ran out of gold again..."

...

"Heh, heh heh. Ran out of gold. If that's not the most ridiculous assumption I've ever hear- RAN OUT OF GOLD?! HAAA! ABSOLUTELY ludicrous."

"It's... entirely possible." Fenton calmly argued.

"It's not even remotely possible! I loaded up the gold myself, I know what I did!"

"But- But if we just simply checked-"

"-Knock it off, NON-intern! We've still got plenty of gold! And to prove it to all you, second tier simple thinkers, I'll fix it myself! Now! Don't get comfortable! We depart in exactly-"

"Boys." Ma Beagle motioned for her sons to get comfortable.

"-five minut..."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Ma Beagle asked as Fenton knelt down in front of a small unlit campfire in the dark and systematically waved his large gloved gizmo-hands back and forth.

"...The plan is to fan this spark into a flame." He replied as she frowned and quickly struck a match into the firepit, instantly setting the dried pile of wood ablaze and illuminating the campsite in soft warm frickling firelight underneath the starry night sky above.

"Thank you..."

Getting up and rolling over to where Webby was sat down on bedside Huey, Fenton held her up in his lap as she remained mostly silent and limp while looking very deep in thought.

"Sorry if this hurts a little bit Webby, and I know that you're already going through a lot right now, but you definitely don't want to those scratches to get infected." Fenton said as he gently cleaned off the duckling's messy face with a fluffy white rag, and Webby didn't really object that much.

"As all it takes is a just a little dirt underneath the skin to throw everything inside way out of proportions..."

"It was very brave of face off against Magica like that, but please don't put yourself in any more danger like that. Especially if you're... Uhhh..." Fenton awkwardly stammered a bit and then continued.

"Mr.-Mr. McDuck and the rest of your family all love and care for you so very much. So please, for all their sakes, let us do all the adventuring from here on. Okay? My father wasn't around for me, but until you're safe at home, I promise that I'll be around for you. I'll make the world safe and sound for you, I promise. It's-" Fenton paused and put his hand at his chest with a smile.

"-a Gizmo-promise..."

"Hmmfh." Huey tried to say as he sat blindly beside both of them with his legs crossed and visibly tense.

"Oh. Make that, a double, Gizmo-promise."

"...Oh." Bigtime began to cry and sniffle while in tears from the pure Gimzo compassion he had just witnessed.

"That's so sweet of ya- AHHH!" The Beagle Boy yelped as his mother only lightly smacked him in the head.

"Ma! Ma! We got the berries!" An excited Bouncer Beagle suddenly ran up from out of the woods with a wide grin and a very disappointing number of wild edible berries in his large arms.

"All that excitement over just that little piddlin' amount?!" Ma Beagle asked.

"Sorry Ma. Burger insisted on eating a few to check if they were poison or not."

"...Where is he?"

"Back with Black Arts getting dessert!"

"Dessert?"

"Waaahh-AAHH! BESS! BEES! Oh my- BEES! BEES! BEES!" With Burger hot on his tail and a broken off leafy branch in his hands, an angry swarm of furious honey bees and a bear chased directly after Black Arts who ran for his life straight through the camp and back into the dark woody forest.

...

"HHMPH!" A tired and dirty Gyro Gearloose suddenly marched out from the woods and threw down his makeshift metal detecting tools to the ground in a heap.

"Hi Dr. Gearloose!" Fenton smiled and cheerily waved to him.

"I'm not exactly sure who this Duckles H. Bennett person was, but whoever he was! He can go f-"

"-SOOOO! Uhhh... No gold? I, presume." Fenton quietly asked his boss.

"Ah ha ha ha. Absolutely, positively- NO GOLD!" The irritable grumpy scientist blurted out in anger as began to pace in circles around the camp and make wildly random motions with his arms. "This forest is one-hundred percent, completely, goldless! Goldless! Goldless! Goldless! Goldless!"

"Dr. Gearloose, just look around. Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now. We should all be at least a little thankful."

"Uh huh, yeah, alive. Alive and lost in the wilderness with a couple of criminals, three insubordinate kids and dummy. Ha! Talk about lucky."

"What did Huey do wrong?" Fenton asked as he held the duckling safely in his arms. "He's literally incapable of doing anything rebellious right now. And we really should focus on getting this evil, THING, off him soon. You okay Huey?"

"Oh, hat nephew didn't do antying wrong." Gyro calmly stated with his arms crossed.

"Then, you ment two insubordinate kids then?"

"No, I ment what I said, child..." Gyro said with an very disapproving annoyed with the entire world frown.

"Well, then- then who's the dummy?" Fenton asked as Bigtime and Bouncer briefly glanced at each other in suspicion.

"...I ain't a dummy!" Bigtime argued while Manny sitting upright on another log gradually took notice of the still silence in the air around him.

"Hold, up-" The ghostly horse slowly clapped.

"Hold it!" Ma Beagle stood up. "You can't call him a dummy. He worked for me last remember? That honors all mine..."

"Dummy..." Gyro starred blankly at the dark blurry shapes in front of him.

"...I ain't a dummy!"

"You can't call him a dummy." Ma Beagle simply repeated herself.

"Hey, y-you- yous guys?" Bigtime timidly began.

"I CAN CALL HIM WHATEVER I WANT!"

"Isn't the forest just so peaceful at night? Huey, Webb-" Fenton paused as he noticed Huey beginning to shift and sqiurm about uncomfortably, and it didn't take long for him to figure what exactly was wrong with the little blind duckling.

"Oh boy..."

With a quiet sigh of acceptance and his time traveling friends still arguing back and forth over each other in the background, the famed hero of Duckburg carefully guided Huey back into the thick shrubbery of the dense forest, leaving Webby all to herself as she stretched her arms and curled up on her hard lonely log, her sleepy yawn forcibly held back by the tight clamp locked around her bill. Even if she could somehow get some sleep now, this was going to be a long night...

...

"BACK! BACK! Back metal beast back!"

"Waaaaaaaahhh?!" Fenton came crashing down to the forest floor with a thud as a slender shadowed figure threw a lasso around him and then leapt up onto his back.

Getting the attention of all the other campers expect Penumbra who was still very much still out of it, an older woman with golden yellow hair and dark green eyes stood proudly atop her catch and tightened the lasso with sudden tug.

"Evening strangers! Just caught this mysterious masked metallic THING sneakin' up on ya with this cold steely look in his eyes. Very suspicious... You all should really be thanking me."

"It's- It's a person! In a suit!" Fenton pleaded. "Definitely not a thing!"

"Wait, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Gyro rubbed his eyes as he stepped forward to get a better look at the intruder.

"Hmmm. You look awfully familiar too..." The mysterious woman rubbed her bill as both her and the scientist stared intently at each other.

"Must just be my imagination."

"Yeah, never seen you before." The woman agreed.

"...Uh, pardon me Ma'am." Fenton began as he slowly undid the lasso from around himself. "But who are you, and what exactly are you doing in the middle of our distress camp?"

"Who me? Well, uh, I was just, uh, looking for, uh, an old freind..."

"While wearing a dress and high heels in the middle of nowhere?" Fenton asked, his expression completely baffled behind his mask.

"Well, I uh, uh. I- I find it's, umm, easier to- to- Hey, HEY! Gruffi, SIT BOY! SIT!" The woman suddenly threw her attention aside to Black Arts being chased up a tree by the bear. And surprisingly, the bear immediately obeyed her order and sat down obediently upon a pile of leaves.

"Thanks random forest bear lady!" The Beagle Boy politely thanked her.

"Don't mention it. Wait, who are you?"

...

"MMMMmmpph! HHHmmmpph!"

"Hold on people! Webby's trying to say something!" Fenton turned around as the duckling stood up and tried her absolute best to cleary warn all the adults about something.

"Anyone here good at charades?"

"What's wrong with your kids?" The woman asked, looking even more puzzled than before after finally noticing Webby and Huey in their both very unusual compromised states.

"Oh." Fenton quickly pulled Webby towards him and hugged her. "Weeeeeee, had a run in."

"Oh, a run in huh? ...Call me nosey, but I just gotta know with who."

"A witch. Well, more like a vile evil sorceress."

"Oh really, a witch huh? Hmmm." The woman paused for a bit to lightly pat the fighting little duckling on the head. "Nice kid."

"...Talk less, smile more, happily receive temporary comfort hugs." Fenton smiled and hugged Webby even tighter, much to her obvious dismay.

"Ha, bunch of softies." The woman laughed. "Let me guess, you're lost."

"And you're not?" Gyro glared at her extra suspiciously.

"Uh! Of course I'm not, lost! Just, saw your firelight, and got, uh, a bit sidetracked." The mysterious woman stopped to take a quick sip of the food sitting by the fire. "Hmmm, not bad. What do you call this?"

"...Cold Junkyard stew!" Bouncer happily replied.

"M-My! How, charming." The mysterious intruder clearly lied. "But if you don't mind, I think I prefer the warm close comforts of civilization..."

"Civilization?! Here?!" Fenton suddenly perked up in excitement.

"You heard me right, Duckburg Woodchuck camping lodge. Just over the ridge, through the forest, pass The Bottomless Grimman's Gorge and straight through Big Butch's Borrasca Bog. Can't miss it."

"Civilization?! With soft beds? And- And pretty little doilies? And- And like actual food and all of that?"

"Hey!" Bouncer complained.

"We just ate..." Gyro quickly reminded the non-intern.

"...Campfire smoke gives me an hefty appetite!"

"HHHmmmpph! MMMMmmpphh!"

"Please Webby not now, the adults are speaking." Fenton quickly hid Webby behind himself. "Civilization?! With soft beds? And- And pretty little doilies? And- And like actual food and all of that?"

"Hey-" Bouncer began to repeat himself before his mother gently stopped him.

"Keep talking..." Ma Beagle ordered.

"Yep, and all of that. But don't worry, I can take you all there. I mean you're clearly not cut out for the great outdoors like I this." The mysterious woman waved for her bear and everyone to follow her into the night.

"Oh wow. Good to know there's still good nice people in this world that you can trust, without the fear of them ultimately stabbing you in the back..." Fenton smiled.

* * *

...

"Hello dere Woodchucks and chuckies. Now- Now just hold your applause please, thank you."

"Professor Ludwig Von Drake here. Certified scientist, Woodchuck scoutmaster, and all-around expert on all brilliant amazing things! The Professor, and that's me..."

"Welcome one and all, to the fourteenth annual Junior Woodchuck talent show! The show, were all you talented and gifted spry young youngsters, battle it out, in a display of monumental Woodchucking proportions! Don't worry folks, it's all just fun and games. Ah-ha-ha-ha."

"BUT, for this most grand momentous occasion, we were most fortune to have someone we all know and love here to speak tonight, and help us judge everyone most impartially, and, fairly..."

"...Everyone give a great big round of applause, that means you can all clap now, to the one and only, Scrooooge, McDuck!"

Everyone in the audience clapped as an old Austrian bespectacled duck stepped aside to make way for the very familiar Scottish guest speaker. Straightening his top hat and then clearing his throat, the richest duck in the world spoke loud and clearly into the microphone placed up on the large wooden outdoor stage.

"It is such a great honor for me to have been invited here to speak tonight. As you all know, Duckburg's economy is booming, businesses are growing up at a rapid pace, hundreds of new job opportunities are opening up, all, to a long, prosperous, BRIGHT future, for Duckburg!"

"BUT, I cannot just accept all the credit for this success to myself, at least not all of it. For when I was just a wee lad, one of your very own founders, and my hero, Mrs. Isabella Finch, was such, a GREAAAT inspiration to me!"

"...Her daring adventures, her truly inspiring pageturner quests! The hard-earned back-breaking lessons she shared with us all, MOLDED me into the man that I am today! And taught me how to stand firm, under the most GRIM, knuckle-whitening, adversity-"

"-McDuck! I-" Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dozens of smoking shots filled the crisp night air as a pack of Beagle Boys stormed the stage guns a blazing with shotguns in hand, much to the displeasure of their old Grandpappy who only weakly hit them with his cane.

"-Stop it! Stop it! Stop it dang it! McDuck," Click! "I accuse you!" The short elderly Beagle aimed his shotgun at Scrooge who was not at all alarmed even in the slightest.

"...Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated." Scrooge calmly said and began to push the angry Beagle grandfather away. "Would you kindly show the tired old geezer to his seat, he clearly needs help."

"Hands off McDuck! Or else I'll-" Click! He cocked his shotgun for the second time, completely wasting another round as it fell onto the wooden boards of the stage.

"Why do keep doing that?" Scrooge asked.

"Do what?!" Click!

"That."

"What about it?!" Click!

"Do you not even know how firearms work?"

"Of course!" Click!

"So you do know or you don't know?"

"You got my great granddaughter Kathy kicked out of the Junior Woodchucks!" The Beagle said as he completely ignored Scrooge's question. "You and your family keeps ruining our Beagle way of lives!"

"First, that DANG high and mighty hero of yours Cornelius Coot, beating up an intire army of poor defenseless Beagles, then YOU robbin' the deed to Duckburg from me and my family!"

"...You stole it first." Scrooge said.

"Rightfully robbed!" The elderly Beagle aimed his shotgun directly back at the old duck.

"Well she, was bad."

"Whaaat?!"

"She was kicked out, because she was bad."

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" All of the entire packed audience aggred.

"...Lies! All lies! You're all making up lies against my Kathy! She was the best! AND the most talented out of all these dang kids! And she's gonna prove it! Boys? Is the stage all set?" He asked his grandkids.

Bankjob, Babyface, and Bugle quickly responded by just laughing wickedly in high pitched giggly voices.

"...Well done! And if anyone even dares to boo, shoot em! And if there still breathing afterwards, shoot till they're long deaaad! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, the winner of thirteenth annual-"

"Fourteenth annual." Ludwig von Drake quickly whispered in his ear.

"-fourteenth annual, Junior Woodchuck talent show, the golden cup of the Woodchucks, Katherine Beagle, and her time machine, to steal back the deed of Duckburg! And Y'all better dang well CLAP."

"Lights! Or whatever you can them new-fangled dang things! Curtains!"

At the command of the elderly Grandpappy Beagle, the tall red curtains to the now brightly light up stage were pulled aside to reveal and a crude, child's made set of a large cardboard box drawn to look all fancy. And stading proudly right in the middle of it, stood an eerily familiar looking young Beagle girl in a black mask.

"This is it boys! All your sister's hard work and dedication has finally paid off! For the future of Duckburg is ours! AHHH- HA-HA-HA! HA-HA!"

...

"Ma? Is- Is that really you?" Bigtime blinked and repeatedly rubbed his eyes in shock, he could barely even believe in what his tired Beagle eyes were seeing.

Ma Beagle frowned. "Let me just say, as I've gotten older, the roles have gotten better..."

"Uhhh, what year, is this?" Fenton asked, him, Gyro, Webby, Huey, young still far out of reality Penumbra, Manny, Ma Beagle, and the the Beagle Boys were all hidden behind some thick bushes up on a hill overlooking the stage.

"Uh- Uh, hold it a second, excuse me." Scrooge suddenly interrupted the young Beagle's show. "But a 'TIME' machine? Really?"

"Y-Yeah... Why? What's wrong with it?" Kathy asked in wide-eyed, genuinely innocent curiosity.

"Well, it's- it's just that- wh- wh... Why go to all that trouble? Couldn't you just come up with a much less complicated and overall simpler plan instead of an utterly and completely ridiculous one with little to no chance of ever succeeding?"

"I- I-" Kathy was at a sudden loss for words in her greatly limited vocabulary of mostly heavy southern slang.

"You may as well just sneak right into my home and swipe it straight from of my desk while I'm not looking..."

"But- But-"

"Way to make a spectacle of the whole thing dear, but you should really be heading home and off the bed." Feeling actual sympathy for her, the old Scottish duck sighed and began to walk her off stage. "There's far more important things a child should be concerned about than a foolish old man's menial trivialities..."

"Foolish?! MENIAL?!" Grandpappy Beagle began to get riled. "WHY I oughta-"

"McDuck! I..."

"-Boys! It's that haggard old mantrap from my dreams! FIRE!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Bankjob, Babyface, and Bugle all blindly fired up into the dark night sky at the unsuspecting, familiar, feminine British voice above.

"WHAA?! Hey! It's not nice to fire at a lady! And it's incredibly STUPID to fire at a WITCH!" The owner of the voice quickly emerged down from the shadows on her flying broomstick and landed flat on her webbed feet as she came to a complete stop.

"Is that?" Fenton wondered aloud.

"Magica? Yep, that's her." Although he clearly couldn't see her, Gyro still immediately recognized her distinctive, booming way of speaking.

"Whoa, how old is- Uh! Was she anyway? Exactly?"

"WAY old." Gyro told him as Ma Beagle just stared forward in silence and then suddenly looked much more intimidating and cross than usual.

"C'mon boys! We don't have time for this..." She somehow grabbed all four of her sons by their ears and began to drag them away.

"Ow- Ow- Ow- Ow- MAAAAAAAAA?! WHHHHHHYYY?!" Black Arts wailed almost more than loud enough for everyone in the entire vicinity to hear.

"Oh okay guys, see ya later." Fenton politely waved them all goodbye.

"Hey! This my raid!"

"Back off buster!" The white feathered dark sorceress in a wedding dress angrily pushed the elderly Beagle aside and marched forward towards Scrooge while dragging an unfamiliar, harmless looking little duckling with jet-black hair along with her by her wrist.

"Far too many times I've slipped up and let success slide between my fingers like tiny little grains of SAND! But this time, the end of our tales will be different..." Magica paused to shove her young ward in front and take a hold of her small feathered palms.

"By the hands of this little DUCK and ancient magic in their WAKE, Minima, give your dear Aunt Magica, her BIG, BREAK!"

"But- But Auntie." The duckling spoke in a quiet, polite, reserved tone of voice. "It might hurt him..."

"Of COURSE it MIGHT, hurt HIM!" Magica continued loudly. "We're not here to make besties!"

"Now." The sorceress paused to turn her neice around to face her and smiled sweetly. "What is the best thing about you again?"

"That I look really good in a scuba suit?" The duckling left her bill agape and rapidly wagged the tip of her tail feathers in complete, gullible excitement as Magica was left temporally speechless and her life long arch-enemy Scrooge McDuck just stared at her in top hat tilting confusion.

"...Would, you excuse us a minute please?" The sorceress quickly pulled her neice behind the curtain and began to scold her.

"You horrid little meat puppet, you're shaming the legacy of the De Spell name! We've talked about THIS! NOW, what is that one THING you hate the MOST with every fiber of your well-rounded, desirable little body?"

"Eh, pardon. But what is the child, doing here?" Scrooge asked.

"Wait, come again?" Magica stuck her head outside the curtain.

"You're not bringing another innocent child into this too?"

"...What? Oh, she was the flower girl."

"What?" Scrooge was still left genuinely confused.

"I was the flower girl!" Minima smiled proudly with her eyes closed and gestured to herself.

"Methinks she said, she was the flower girl." Ludwig von Drake deduced.

...

"She was the flower girl..." Bankjob simplify told his brother.

"...She was the flower girl." Babyface passed down the message to Bugle.

"She was the flowe-"

"-I KNOW!" Scrooge suddenly blurted out.

"Hoo-de-hoo! Scroogey!" The mysterious women from earlier stood at the very edge of the stage and waved.

"GOLDIE?! WHAT THE BLAZES?!"

"Oh. There she is." Fenton smiled to himself.

"McDuck! I-"

"-I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me." Scrooge immediately interrupted Magica while almost instantly calming back down.

"...AAUGH! Pox and pestilence, pustules and plagues! Pay attention to me! I was here SECOND!"

"Sorry, I'm so sorry."

"WHAT?! OI! Bite me McDuck!" The sorceress waved both her and her nieces curled up fists at him in years built up spite.

"Goldie! What in world do you think you're doing here?!"

"Well, I- I heard-"

"-You heard?" Scrooge simply asked in clear annoyed boredom.

"Okay okay. I snooped around a bit and found out you were gonna be here tonight, soooo, I came as soon as I could."

"...And, I assume, to rob me blind just like you always do?" The old duck crossed his arms crossly at her.

"Well, that. And also that I- Well, just wanted to see you again Scroogey. It's been a while hasn't it?" Goldie gently rubbed underneath her old flame's chin with her finger.

"And it's never long enough..."

...

"McDuck! I-"

"I'm sorry, but who is this frivolous, angry old woman Scroogry?" Goldie asked.

"What?!" The sorceress stood back in shock.

"Do you know her Scroogey?"

"...I swear, I don't know this woman." Scrooge simply said.

"What?!"

"Were you married to her Scroogey?"

"WHAT?!"

"WE WEREN'T, MARRIED! Like, I'd ever, marry her!"

"That's right! We both hate each other equally!" Magica put her arm around Scroogey in a rare, brief moment of agreement.

"Not true! I hate you more than you ever could!"

"Sooo, what was the plan then?" Goldie asked. "Get married to some poor old rich sap and then just fly off into the night with his fortune?"

The sorceress paused. "No... And I'd like to see you come up with a better one!"

"Oh, you mean spiking all the drinks and then collapsing all four corners of building so as not to leave a trail behind?" Goldie grinned smugly as she swirled a bang of her silky golden hair.

"...And you thought that was a good plan?!" Magica asked, quite offended by Goldie's vastly superior scheme.

"Yep. Everyone couldn't be happier and more terrified."

...

"That's enough! It's my granddaughters time to shine!" Granpappy Beagle began. "She rehearsed her part for months, and I'm not about to let all her hard work go to waste!"

"Oooh, and what a little cutie she is too. Wouldn't mind taking her for myself..." Magica stopped to look over the young Beagle girl and then slowly ran her thumb down cheek, making her visibly uncomfortable.

"I'm hot and naughty too Auntie." Minima suddenly added.

"Wait wait?" Scrooge and Goldie both wondered aloud at the duckling's sudden, odd remark.

"Hey! You don't touch my granddaughter!" The elderly Beagle pulled her away from the sorceress and held her closely. "She means the world to me! And this old Beagle's bones still have the strength they need to protect her, at all costs! Oh! My back..."

"Can't you take a JOKE?" Magica asked as she tightly griped her young niece's wrist without thinking and swung her around. "It's not like I was ACTUALLY going to kidnap her, and make off with her or anything..."

"That's literally what you were thinking wasn't it? And I think somebody really ought to set this wee one here straight." Straighting his top, Scrooge McDuck took the oblivious duckling aside and spoke to her.

"Cute, should mean, sweet, cuddly and innocent. Not suggestive and blatantly amorous."

Minima just remained wide-eyed and silent, looking like Scrooge had just told her all the lost secrets of the universe while locked in her own little world of vile darkness and magic.

"I'm not exactly sure what you've been telling her, but I'm now more than just a little wee bit concerned."

"...I said that's enough!" Grandpappy Beagle yelled and held his shotgun back up. "Everybody better sit down! Kathy's gonna put on the best show y'all ever see, AND win the prize!"

"Hold on, what prize are we talking about here?" Goldie asked.

"The golden cup of the Woodchucks backstage of course! What else?!"

"Sorry, but there's no golden cup back there. Trust me, I would have seen it."

"Are you sure you didn't just, swipe it clean away like everything else?" Scrooge raised a single suspicious eyebrow at her.

"Please! Scrooge! Do you know how you're taking too? UGH!" Goldie sounded surprisingly offended for once. "I didn't swipe anything!"

Clang, clang, clang! All of Goldie's random assortment of stolen valuable treasures fell out from underneath her golden dress at the same and scattered across the stage at her feet.

"From here..."

"Huh? I wonder what happened to it then. That golden, Junior Woodchuck trophy that is..." Fenton wondered and starting to rub his chin while poor little Penumbra just continued to stutter mindlessly to herself.

"Ne-Ne-Ne..."

Then it hit her, suddenly smacking Webby right in the face upon realization. The missing Woodchuck trophy, Ma Beagle completely ditching them earlier, the wrecked, barely functional Time Tub that Bouncer had carried almost all the way here on his back, it all made sense.

Desperately fighting out of Fenton's tight protective grasp that he had on her, she wiggled to ground and said in the most intelligible way she could muster. "Thrre gonnnmn thhh levvve ussss!"

"...Sorry Webby. Didn't quite catch that." Fenton quickly apologized to her.

"Ne-Ne-Ne..."

"THRRE GONNNMN THHH LEVVVE USSSS!" Webby jumped up in the air several times and pointed towards the dark wooded bog far behind them.

"Wait. They're going to, leave us? They're going to, leave us?"

"She said they're going to leave us. Hmmm, whoever they are." Gyro told him.

"Ne-Ne-Ne..."

"Oh! Oh. Uh oh..." Fenton paused for a brief moment to gather all his thoughts. "AUUuuh! The Beagle Boys are going to leave us!"

"What?!" Gyro questioned aloud, the madness once again returning to his tired eyes and face.

"Ne-Ne-Ne... NEIL WINGSTROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!"

Echoing loudly all throughout the open forest clearing, Penumbra's shrill cracking voice filled the air as she cursed upwards at the starry night sky above and then collapsed unconscious flat to the cold grassy ground below. It was definitely not one of here better Earth days.

"Wait what?" Literary everyone on the stage and in the crowded audience turned to stare at the now exposed time travelers up on the hill.

"Oh blathering blatherskite." Fenton and Gyro both muttered sadly at the same time.

"...Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAAH?! What is THAAAT?! What is THAAAAAAA-AAAATTT?!" Magica De Spell was taken back in obvious horror and offense at what she had just seen. Her own upside-down deceased stone head, placed upon the neck of a clearly non-inconspicuous headless Man-Horse just standing there up on the hill with his friends.

"Oop! Time to go! Gizmoduck ooooooooouuuuuuut!" Quickly picking up Gyro, Webby, Penumrba, and Huey all underneath his arms, Fenton sped away as Manny stopped covering his face with his hooves and galloped away after them.

"HEY! That's my face! What are you doing with me FACE?! Rrrrrr! Minima!"

"Yes Auntie?" Minima quickly ran up to her Aunt as ordered.

"We ride! McDuck!" Magica pointed her finger at Scrooge with a cold venomous glare after pulling her niece up behind her on her enchanted flying broomstick. "I'll be BACK to deal with you later! Together we shall channel ALL OUR magics, to BLAST, that one singular horse!"

"MAN-HORSE!" Manny clapped from a distance as Scrooge and Ludwig von Drake just watched the dark shadowy sorceress fly off.

"Well, this has been an enjoyable experience. But I- Wait. My wallet... My keys!" The old Scottish duck patted himself over and then looked around for Goldie who was now clearly nowhere in sight.

"...GOLDIE YOU BACKSTABBING- I WILL FIND YOOOOUUUU!"

"Just remember." Ludwig began to remind him. "Anger never got anybody anywhere."

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHH!" Scrooge angrily pushed straight past Grandpappy Beagle and his still frightened granddaughter, accidentally knocking his shotgun onto the stage.

"DANG IT McDuck! Mark my words! Duckburg won't last! My grandchildren will see to that! They will get what's rightfully theirs! They'll get it!" The elderly Beagle grandfather shaked his fist at him for the very last time.

"It may not be in my lifetime, but Duckburg will fall, and Beagleburg will rise! The Beagle Boys will be the emperors of the world! They'll have kings and presidents groveling at their feet!"

"Mark my words McDuck! Some-how! One-day!" He stopped to pick up his firearm and aim it directly at the back of Scrooge's head.

"UHH! Scroogey!"

"GOLDIE YOU- Waaah-aahh?" Goldie rushed out from seemingly nowhere and tackled Scrooge down onto the stage, somehow ending up flat underneath him as they both rolled out of the way.

Click! The shotgun didn't fire.

"DANG IT!" Grandpappy Beagle angrily threw his shotgun onto floor, snapping the empty firearm clean in half.

"What a way to take advantage of me Scroogey..."

* * *

"Ooooh! Well would look at what we have here? Little children..." Magica smirked down at Fenton as she chased after them on her broomstick, cackling softly as she prepared to cast a spell from her wand.

Realizing what her Aunt was planning to do, Minima stood up in fear and tried to take the wand away from her.

"Wait Auntie, STOP!"

CRAAA-AAAAACK! The lighting fast spell missed it's target, catching a tree on fire instead and cutting it down into several neatly stacked rows of firewood in the process.

"Damn it Minina! That's it! I've had it all the way up to here with you you vile little brat! You make me sick! It's almost like you WANT a beating or something! You either stand proud with ME and our family, or side with McDucks!"

"Auntie wait! I can't hold on! Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh- Ugh!" Minima was saved as the sorceress swooped back and caught her just in time from a high deadly fall.

"Good, you're not hurt..." Magica quickly looked her niece over. "Now sit back there and be quiet!"

After quickly catching back up to Fenton as he raced his way literally as fast as he could back to the Time Tub, the sorceress magically took a hold of the long the chain trailing behind Webby and yanked it backwards, pulling both her and Huey out of his grasp as they tumbled roughly onto the forset floor.

"Oh no! Huey, Webb- Waaaaaaaahhhh-" CRASH! Fenton spun widely out of control in the mud and crashed flat into a tree as he tried to turn back around.

Somehow recovering from being horribly choked the way she was, Webby threw Huey over her shoulder and tired to make a run for it, only to bump right into something warm and alive and fall backwards back onto the ground.

"Hhhmm?"

"Yes?" A younger Bradford Buzzard turned to face her in the dark, his large reflective glasses shone brightly over his ominous yellow eyes.

"...MMMMMMMMmmmm!" The duckling quickly picked up Huey again in a panic and ran while the Buzzard just glared at her.

"Ah ha! Now I've got you..."

"HHHGRK!" Webby's escape was once again put to a sudden painful stop as Magica pulled back on the far end of the chain with her hand and choked her backwards.

"Not sure why she's chained up like this, but I'm sure it was done by an incredibly nice person..."

"STOP AUNTIE NOOO! You're hurting her!"

"Oh, so you think THAT'S hurting her huh?! Ok then, I'll show you! I'll show you TRUE hurt!"

Summoning a large burning ball of dark purple magic that crackled with energy and her blew her and nieces dark hair up in a powerful magical gale, the sorceress carefully aimed her wand and hurled her spell down at the pair of duckling's far below her. Unable to stop it now, Minima just covered her eyes in fear.

"...HAAAAAA!" THHWWWOOOOOOM! It was a direct hit. The ball of magic hit it's target with a bright purple blast, the tight metal clamp around Webby's bill and mask locked around Huey's head finally came off.

Webby coughed, and for a brief moment was relieved that she could actually open her bill and finally speak again, but soon found it completely impossible to stand back up as Magica's spell had somehow reverted her back into a merduck laying in the mud, her pink fish tail felt the drizzle of light rain running down on her scales.

Holding herself up with her shaking hands, the little muddy merduck coughed again and saw something that almost made her heart stop. Huey laid motionless flat on his back with his hand at his chest.

"UHH! Oh no HUEY! Are you OKAY?! Are you dead?! Are you bleeding?! SPEAK TO ME!" Webby crawled up to Huey in a desperate attempt to wake him up.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"What? Wait, what's this?" Finally noticing something very out of place underneath Huey's shirt, Webby pulled it up to reveal the source of the beeping, a high-tech mini supercomputer built right into the duckling's stomach. How had nobody seen this before?

"Wait wait? WHHAAAAAAATTT?! YOU'RE A ROBOT?! Or, half-robot. That doesn't look very comfortable, or, healthy..."

"Host damaged. Security breached. Countdown to termination in, fifteen, seconds, activated." A familiar pre-recorded feminine voice warned. And why did it kinda sound like Gand-

"-Wait? Termination?! Like in DEAD?! Huey what is THIS?! What has F.O.W.L. done to you?!" Webby begged for a clear answer from him.

...

"...From deep beneath the shadow of Killmotor Hill, lies a golden beast awaiting us still." Huey finally spoke, his eyes now wide open and fully dilated.

"Thunder roars and climates chill, till humanity learns the reality of the being named B-B-B-Bi-"

"-WHAT?! Huey?! You're not making any SENSE! But to be be fair, Dewey and Louie rarely made much compelling sense either..."

Huey just breathed slowly in response.

...

"Sorry Webby, don't trust anyone, and especially me. Huey goes boom now. Heh heh ha."

"WEBBY!" Fenton screamed at her.

"HUEY! WHAT- Ughhh!" BOOOOOM!

Manny dove forward out of the dark and rushed Webby to safety just as the self-destruct system inside Huey reached zero, instantly triggering an electric charge that detonated the system and the F.O.W.L. duckling in a fiery blast that lit up the forest clearing in heavy smoke and flames.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! HUUUUUEEEEEYYYYY!" Webby reached out to the fire helplessly from Manny's hooves as tears began to well up in her eyes, Gyro and Lil' Bulb were speechless.

"This war is too much..." Fenton hugged Penumbra close to him.

"Huh? Who? Whatsit?" The young moonlander finally began to come to in his arms.

"...C'MON! This way!" Gyro ordered.

* * *

...

"C'mon! C'mon! Work dang it!" Ma Beagle hit the Time Tub with her heavy brick filled purse, it's system now completely full of valuable precious gold.

"C'MON!" She hit it one final time, finally starting it up as it quickly reached full time power.

"...YES." Smiling devilishly, Ma Beagle climbed up into the Time Tub with her four sons and laughed. A full, hearty, wickled laugh that she hadn't let out for months.

"This is it boys! All your Ma's hard work and dedication has finally paid off! For the future of Duckburg is ours! AHHH- HA-HA-HA! HA-HA!"

"Killer choice of words Ma!" Bouncer complemented her with a wide smile of his own.

"No wait, STOP! Don't leave us!" Fenton raced up to them with Gyro, Webby, and Penumbra all under his arms.

"So long suckers! Been nice knowin' ya! See ya another time!" Ma Beagle set the Time Tub for launch, slowly hiding her and the Beagle Boys in blue bright light.

"Fenton! Extendo-arms!" Webby said.

"What?"

"YOU HEARD THE KID! EXTENDO-ARMS! REACH!" Gyro somehow held tightly onto Webby, Penumbra, and Fenton all at same time and smacked the Gizmosuit, extending it's gizmo-hands out towards the Time Tub ahead which automatically griped the edge of it.

"...Uhhhh, Ma?" Bigtime tapped his mother on the back.

"What on this planet is going oooooooooooonnnnnn-" All of the time travelers in and outside the Time Tub including Manny who ran up just in time to get caught up in the afterblast disappeared in a sudden flash of light, leaving Magica and Minima all alone in the middle of the forest hovering high up on their flying broomstick.

...

"Uh, Auntie?" Minima gently nudged her Aunt Magica who remained silent in messy haired, unjustified anger.

"...You're lucky that I don't disown this instant you fool."

"A-A-Auntie?"

"You're a fool Minima. A fool that embarrassed me tonight, and let McDuck and his little friends get away scot free. Do you JUST, want to ruin EVERYTHING for US?!"

"N-No. I- I- Uh-"

"Shut up!" The sorceress snapped at her. "When we get home, I'll teach you to respect your Aunt! But good!"

"Wait! Auntie! I- I didn't-"

"Or, would you just prefer it right here and now? FINE!" Magica flew down to the ground and shoved her niece back against a nearby tree.

"W-W-Wait! Auntie no!" Mimina cowered back as much as she could with her Aunt standing tall over her with fire ignited in her eyes.

"Quiet! I gave you a chance to prove to me you could be a good girl and obey me, and if you just knew how to listen, you wouldn't be such a bad, ugly little spunk slut." The sorceress snapped off a strong, flexible branch from the tree and held it up for Minima to see.

"And you KNOW very well what happens to bad, ugly little spunk sluts that don't listen... Now, roll up your dress!

"...But- But Aunite, I- I can't! That's, private!"

"Shut up you brat! You brought this all onto yourself!" Magica yelled at her. "Roll up your dress!"

"N-N-NO!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice with me young lady! Now roll up your DRESS and turn AROUND!"

"NO! -Ow!" Mimina closed her eyes and felt the sting of a sharp slap to the face.

"Oh c'mon, I didn't hit you that hard..."

"Yes you did! And it hurt! OW!" Magica slapped her again.

"All you ever do is complain! Stop being so selfish!"

"I'm- I'm not selfish! You- You blame me for EVERYTHING!" The duckling struggled to speak clearly as she began to cry. She hated when her Aunt Magica yelled at her like this.

"I'll show you! I'll run away! I'll run away and never come back! And find an Aunt that will really LOVE ME! I'll show you! I'll sho-" Minima was caught up in a spell as her Aunt Magica lifted her up in the air like a puppet on strings and held her only inches away from her cold face.

"Are you even listening to yourself right now? I guess I'll have to repeat myself, LOUD and CLEAR for you, since a dead from the neck up fool like you obviously can't remember..."

"Nobody would want you. And you're crazy if think otherwise. You're a De Spell, and nothing can ever change that. Without me, you are truly, nothing."

"No, NO! AAAHH! Auntie stop!" The duckling tried her best not to cry as her sorceress Aunt held her upside-down and began slowly wringing her out like a wet towel.

"It breaks my heart to see you act this way Minima. I love you so very much, and yet you continue to test my patience..."

"But- But- But Mom and Dad never hit me!"

"...Good for nothing waste of ji- Maybe they didn't hit you because you actually OBEYED them. Now why can't you obey me? Your Aunt that loves you?"

"Because Mom and Dad never told me to KILL ANYBODY!" Minima screamed back in Magica's face.

...

"Well somebody's telling you now." The sorceress stopped torturing her niece and put her back on her trembling feet.

"This is your LAST CHANCE, CHILD. I'm not making this complicated for you, and I'll be sure say it slowly, one more time for you, so that your feeble little mind can comprehend it. And just remember, your parents would want this. ROLL, UP, your dress, and turn, AROUND."

"...N-NO!" Minima refused. "I- I'm- I am not a puppet! I- JUST- WHY- W-WHY, WHY DO YOU KEEP TREATING ME LIKE THHIISS?!"

"You're- YOU'RE just, a- a MONST- Hhhrk!" Magica's niece was choked into panicked silence as she was held off the ground by a single twisted hand.

"If this is what you truly want, then fine then! You're spending the next two weeks time out in the cellar! No dessert! No dinner! Oh, and I'll be taking these too..."

The sorceress smirked and snapped her fingers together with her free hand, magically stealing Mimina's eyes straight from their sockets and leaving empty holes in her head. Magica had to admit, it felt good to terrorize that annoying little slut like this.

"AHHH! My eyes! Auntie please! Put them back! AAAHHHH!" The duckling began to scream again as Magica struck her in the head with her broomstick.

"After you learn to behave and be a good girl! Hold still, this is for your own good! And from here on, speak without being spoken to, cry, scream, smartmouth, fight back, make any other random annoying fool noises, and you'll get the stick even harder!"

"Now get down on your knees and say you're sorry! Kneel before your Aaaaunt! Do I make MYSELF CLEAR?"

...

"Ye- AAAHHH!"

"DO I MAKE, MYSELF, CLEAR?!" Magica hit her again.

Minima gulped, her head throbbed in terrible pain as she got on her knees as ordered. "Yes. Auntie..."

"Say it."

"...I'm sorry, Aunti-" WHACK! "AAAHHH! WHHHYY-" WHACK!

"Cut the cute Auntie stuff already! You are no longer worthy to be called family! From this moment onwards, you will call me, your master."

"Say it..." Magica ordered.

"SAY, IT!"

"...I'm sorry, maste-" WHACK! "RRAAAAAHHH! STOP! PLEASE! DON'T- AAAHHH!" WHACK! Minima bleed from a fresh wound on her forehead.

"We can do this all night if we have to Minima. Say it like you mean it, and I mean REALLY mean it."

"I-I'm, s-s-s-so-" WHACK!

"You're crying! You're CRYING! You're crying again! I warned you about the CRYING!"

"S-s-s-sto-p-p. I-It, HURTS!" WHACK! "AAAHHHH!"

"Just shut your ugly trap already you filthy little scum hole! I'll whip your fat feathered tush into shape yet!"

"Someone, please. Anybody..." Minima knelt face down on the forest floor and cried softly for help, yet nobody came.

Magica sighed. Instead of hitting her young blind niece over the head like every other time before, she let herself relax and bent down to her.

"...Don't worry Minima, when I'm finished with you, you'll be perfect, the perfect little girl." She paused to gently stroke her niece's feathered tear stained face.

"Silent, tender, obedient, and most of importantly, completely underneath, my thumb..."

The sorceress held up her broomstick.

* * *

"Uuuh-uh-aaahh uhhh. What is HApen-innng? Where is my faaMily? Feeling all weird and floaty all of the sudden. AAHHH!" Huey fell backwards to the ground as his 'body' passed right through a tree.

"Great, you're inside of a tree now. Just, great..."

WHACK! "What's the matter MiniMAAA? You seem a tad upset at something. Maybe you would like a little nap or something."

"Magica?" Huey sat up and looked around after recognising the sorceress' loud and distinctive voice.

"AAAAHHH! AUNTIE NOOO-" WHACK! With a final blow straight to the head, Huey watched as Minima was finally knocked unconscious into an eyeless little duckling beaten into a motionless, curled up little heap on the ground.

"Oh no... Oh- Oh no! D-D-Don't worry!" Huey stuttered and floated out of the tree." Huey will- uh. Do, something!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh- Wait what?"

Passing straight through Magica's body as Huey quickly ran up to try and stop her, the duckling flipped into a bush and slowed down to a complete stop inside of another tree.

"Annnnnd, you're inside of a tree again. What is this ghostwood?"

...

"...Your time here is up."

"Huh? AAAHH!" Huey jumped back in surprise at a sudden warm presence standing behind him. It looked like an older but familiar woman wearing an adventurer's outfit and hat.

"Who- Who-Who? Who are you? Wait. Are you my, guardian angel?" The duckling asked, unaware that his feet weren't even touching the ground anymore as he just floated over it.

"You could say so, in a way..." The woman said.

"...Wait. I- I think I know you from somewhere." Huey thought back for a bit. "Mrs. Isabella Finch?"

...

"In the spirit..." The woman replied with friendly smile.

"Wait, how- how can I be so sure that's it's you? Uh, the real dead Isabella Finch, I mean..." The duckling asked.

"...Junior Woodchuck rule two: All Junior Woodchucks must be open to the unknown-"

"-in their quest for the truth!" Huey finished over her and began to grow excited.

"Ha! You really are Isabella Finch! Ha ha ha! This is awesome!" Unconsciously floating over to where she was standing, Huey took her hand and shook it.

"H-H-Heuy- Huey Duck! A-Agent of, of F.O.W.L., and Junior Woodchuck! My- My Uncle loved your adventures!"

"He did? I'm... flattered." Isabella Finch looked simultaneously embarrassed and proud at the same time.

"...There, I'd say that's more than enough punishment for you, for now anyway." Magica spoke to her still unconscious niece as she lifted her up and tied her beaten little body onto her broomstick.

"Let's see how you like the heavy duty instruments back home. Maybe THAT will finally be enough to KNOCK some sense into that thick skull of yours." And with that, The Sorceress of Shadows mounted her flying enchanted broomstick and flew away, she had a lot to work to do.

"Magica..." Huey whispered as Magica disappeared into the dark shadows of the night sky. "Isn't there, anything we can do to help her?"

"I'm afraid not. At least not now." Isabella Finch said. "The corporeal world is mostly off limits to the astral plane. Try and lean against something, you'll float right through."

"Hmm, over-complicated ghost physics, feeeel like I should have asked Duckworth about this earlier..." Huey rubbed his chin. "So, I'm really dead huh?"

"Well, although it IS possible, I can't imagine in many ways how that couldn't be the case..."

"Ugh, man. I had everything planned out so perfectly too." Huey walked over to a log and sat down in the air just inches above it. "My life, my career, my future, now it's all over."

"Sorry Mom, sorry Uncle Donald, sorry Uncle Scrooge. Sorry, Webby... I thought for sure this was the right path for me, but here I am. Lost in time, betrayed by my boss, my life cut short, now all that's left of me is a ghost, and now it's all over..."

...

"Your quest here may be over, but your adventure has just begun."

"Huh?" The duckling looked up.

"You still have a lot left to learn, as so do I. There's still all sorts of unsolved mysteries and hidden treasures out there, just waiting to be discovered. And together, we can discover, explore, conquer, and chart, the unknown."

"You with me?" The ghost held out her arm to him with a smile.

"Or, you could just sit here all by yourself till the Reaper comes after you and drags your soul off into a uncertain afterlife. Heeeee's, not really a bad guy, just, lacks a certain genuine sense of humor..."

"...Y-Yeah, I'm with you." Huey took Isabella Finch's hand and let her help him back onto the ground.

"Still, I wish there was some way we could help that poor little girl. I'm not sure if you know about her or not, but Magica De Spell, is FAR, from a nice person."

"Nope! Never heard about her. Even though she seems to fit right into the classic evil witch archetype."

"Yeah, she does have the record with just getting soooo carried away... By the way, where is that lost adventure journal of yours?" Huey asked. "The people at F.O.W.L. were really interested in finding out where it's hidden."

"Oh that old thing? Not sure. Must have left it in some place or another." Isabella Finch and Huey walked off together into the night, unaware that they were being spyed on by a certain person in particular wearing state of the art supernatural specs and apparition eavesdropping earbuds.

"Bradford Buzzard to F.O.W.L., report of lost journal of Isabella Finch. Located in, some place, or, another..."


	27. A McDuck Family Reunion!

...

"WaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAHHH- WaaaAAAHHH!"

"Ma, we've gots ourselves some stoaways." Bigtime Beagle peeked out over the edge of the now somehow floating high up in the sky Time Tub to Gizmoduck clinging on for dear life, with Dr. Gearloose, Penumbra, and Webby, all hanging onto him.

"Bouncer." Ma Beagle stepped forward to give all the desperate danglers the thumbs down. "Dump em'!"

"No. No no no no wait!" Fenton began to beg as Bouncer Beagle cracked his massive knuckles together with a wide toothy grin.

"...No hard feelings."

"No. No no no no wait! Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwahhhhhhhhhhhh-" The poor trio of tired filthy time travelers were slowly but surely pried off the edge of the tub and dropped into the uncertain depths below.

"Gizmo-chute, a-a-activate!"

"NOOOOOO!" Gyro let out a loud wailing scream. "NOT-" The parachute opened upside down, getting them all tangled up inside it as they fell straight out the cloudless, clear blue sky.

"-that. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH-" Crash! All three of the time travelers fell hard onto concrete in a disgruntled battered heap, the Gizmosuit's sturdy armor just barely saving their lives from the high fatal fall.

"Where to next Ma? Our dear old Uncle Bobo in South America?" Bouncer asked. "Last I've heard, he was serving time there."

Ma Beagle paused. "...Well then we'll just send him a get well card."

"Why? Is he sick?" Black Arts wondered.

"No. But he could do much better..."

"Hhrhhrrhrheeyh." Burger said very cleary.

And with a flash, the Beagle filled Time Tub blocking the sun's rays disappeared back into the ever-changing flow of the timestream, completely dispelling the dark shadow it's form cast down onto the ground from above. Since when could the Time Tub even fly again anyway?

"A-Accursed Earth gravity..." The young moonlander muttered, not even bothering to get up.

"This, selfless heroing and daring-do stuff, really isn't all that's it's cracked up to be." Fenton slowly began.

"I think I preferred the simpler days when I was just an average, naive, poorly, heavily underpaid intern..."

"Unpaid." Gyro added.

"...Ughhhh." Webby groaned as she weakly struggled to sit upright on her scale covered end to take a look around. Her eyes stung from the sudden change of lighting from a dark forest bog at night, to a blinding sunlit afternoon.

"Where- Where are we- Huuuuuuuahh!" She was immediately cut off from her own sudden surprise filled gasp at what lay before her.

There it was, just as she remembered it, sat perfectly still and intact high atop Killmoter Hill, was her home of McDuck Manor. Not smooshed completely flat underneath the island of the god's, not raided and robbed by the Beagle Boys of past and present, not even taken over by a magical cult of vengufull swordhorses. Just her Uncle Scrooge's billionaires mansion, just as she remembered it.

And there she was, sat down on the road, just outside it's familiar gates. She was finally, finally home. And dispite the quickly approaching dark black limousine speeding straight towards her head, Webby couldn't hold in her unmatched delight any longer.

"Home sweet HOOOMMME-"

"WaaaAAAAH!" Gyro pulled her and himself flat to ground just as the vehicle now just inches away from them came to sudden, skid-marking, almost crashing stop.

"...WATCH IT!" The angry scientist suddenly sprung back up.

"Sorry!" The familiar duckling driver dressed in blue quickly apologized.

"Wait, DEWEY!?" Webby almost fell back again in surprise. "Wait, when do you learn to drive? Didn't Uncle Donald forbid you from ever driving after that one fast food cheesy chili fries incident?" She asked.

"Wait what?" Gyro questioned.

"...Penumbra? Webby?! Dr. Gearloose?!" The duckling frantically looked over the three time travelers, obvious fear and disbelief filling his now shocked tone of voice.

"Hi." Fenton waved while Pemunbra just stared at him.

...

"AaaaAHHHHH! GHOSTS! LIKE I'VE NEVER EVEN SEEN BEFORE! AHHHHHHHHH!" The frightened duckling driver slammed his barely reaching webbed foot on the gas pedel and speed turned down the road past them as fast as he could.

"Wait, Dewey! We're- We're not-" Fenton and Webby watched in stunned silence as the long abused limousine bumped into a few random roadside obstacles and finally crashed far out of sight.

"...There he goes. Do you think he was dropped on his head a whole lot as a child?" Webby asked.

"Oh, poor baby." Fenton admittedly felt bad for him.

...

"Well moving on from that, home sweet HOOOMMM- Huuuuggh!" Webby paused and let out another loud gasp as she clutched her chest.

"Webby? What's- What's wrong- Oh."

"Uugaaahhh! Curse these FAILING AQUA LUUUNNGS!"

"Oh no! Water! We- We need- Water!" Fenton quickly scooped her in his arms and immediately began to search the surrounding area for a decent source of the valuable life sustaining liquid.

"S-S-S-Swimming pool..." The little tired merduck stuttered and gasped for air as she weakly pointed up towards her Uncle Scrooge's mansion and then a few other random unclear locations.

"Wait, swimming pool! That's it!" Fenton realized with a relieved laugh. "You've got a swimming pool! Ha-ha!" He prepared for launch.

"WAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" The launch was successful, Fenton and Webby were both caught straight upwards in the Gizmosuit's sudden, Rocket Thruster renegade.

"Dummy NOOOOOO! Bring her DOWN!" Gyro ordered up the sky and the now randomly shot off Midriff Missile heading straight towards him.

"...Oh gosh."

"You don't have to hold yourself back in my presence." Pemumbra bluntly told him. "I'm still mentally an adult."

Thwoom! The missile in question began to pick up speed as Fenton and Webby uncontrollably spun and twirled around in the air of above Duckburg, their terrified screams and yells completely drowned out by the high wind speeds blowing up their bills.

"Holy Earth mother, we're being attacked! HEY! Release me ya big doodie head! I can walk!" The young moonlander complained as she was lifted up and rushed to safety.

"WaaaaaaHHH!" With a fighting kicking Penumbra in his grasp, Gyro heroically and in no way awkwardly or cowardly dove headfirst straight into the bushes, just as the missile hit the ground with a loud boom and the duckling driver from earlier crashed backwards into his peculiar, far off retreat parking space.

"...Sorry!"

* * *

"As the per usual, we have called this emergency meeting to discuss your, recent, costly, less than unprofitable, fruitless, endeavors..." Bradford Buzzard readjusted his glasses and looked back down to the important papers in his hands.

Sitting behind his desk and in front of his office window in a strategic circle, three elderly buzzards sat down before a very bored looking and unmotivated Scrooge McDuck in a chair. At this point, the old duck honestly couldn't care less.

"-by cutting funding from tech and all future resource departments..."

The lead brother turned to the next page as Scrooge blinked in cold dead silence, not even bothering to notice a familiar Headless Man-Horse flash into reality and fall past the window.

"-we feel that..." Bradford continued as his brothers glared ominously at Scrooge, who in the briefest of moments, opened his eyes just wide enough to see Gizmoduck fly by his office window with who looked like his darling wee Webbigail safely in his hands.

"BLESS, ME BAG-" Thud! The old duck feel flat out of his chair into silence on the dirty, unkempt floor.

"Uhhh..." The lead brother was speechless.

"-PIPES!" Scrooge popped up in sudden renewed excitement.

"Uh- Kids! Beakley! Duckworth! Uh, Launchpaaad!" Scrooge yelled as he ran out of the room.

* * *

"-AaahhhhhhhHHHHHHH!"

"Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Splash! Webby was dropped out of the air and hit the surface of the mansion pool with flying flailing crash, causing her to sink all the way down into the Autumn cooled, cold depths.

"-waaahhhhhhhHHHHHHH-" Fenton and the Gizmosuit's failing systems were immediately cut off by an inconveniently planted tree as he flew up and down through the woods and came to a stop in a set of thorny shrubs.

Hearing the commotion outside, Scrooge, Huey, Della, Donald, Launchpad, and Duckworth rushed outside to the edge of the pool while Mrs. Beakley watched from the inside looking very anxious all of the sudden. This was all definitely not going according to plan.

"...Uaaahh!" The little merduck quickly resurfaced from the deep end of the water with a relived gasp of air and floated at the top.

"For a fish person, I've certainly spent a surprisingly large amount of time flying!"

"Tear ME TARTAN, WEBBIGAIIIL?!"

"WEBBYYYYY?!" Launchpad could barely believe his eyes.

Webby turned around in the water to face them. "Uncle Scroooog- UHH!" She was immediately met with a barrage of warm tight constricting hugs from her family as they leaped in the pool all around her.

Who cares if they got wet? Webby was safe, alive, well, and home, and Huey couldn't contain himself anymore. He hugged her. And hugged her, and hugged her, and hugged her. Tighter and closer than he ever had in his life. Webby was finally home, and she laughed as she tried to push him away, quickly changing her mind and just decided to hug him back.

"Oh Huey! I was just with you, and then I saw you die! I- I thought I would never see you guys agaaiiin!"

"...Whoa, Webby. You sure were a big baby." Launchpad said. "Also, what happened to your legs? It kinda looks like they melded together and turned pink."

"Wait what?" Webby questioned her hearing from Launchpad's almost Dewey-like remark, also pausing to take notice of Huey close to tearing up in relief over her.

"Uh, Huey? Huey?"

"...Webby, it's me, 22." Huey said.

...

"Wait, Granny?" Webby looked around the pool puzzled at her family. "Did I... miss, something?"

Suddenly, Donald's eyes shot wide open in horrifying sickend realization. In a coughing, gagging, almost indistinguishable quacky fit, the very wet duck fled the pool and far away from his greatest fear and ailment much to close to his comfort: fish.

"Bluugh! HAAAAAGH! BLAAAAH-AAUUUGH!"

* * *

...

"Webbigail, please." Violet politely pleaded.

"Sorry Louie. I- I just can't- GAAAH-HA-HA-HA-HAAA! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Webby threw herself backwards back into her portable on wheels baby bathtub in an uncontrollable laughing fit. If she had legs, she'd definitely be kicking them up in air.

"You-re- You're a GIRUUUL?! BAW-HAAA! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

An annoyed Louise Duck still magically handcuffed to Violet Sabrewing glared coldly forward in complete staring silence from inside his tight hoodie.

"Buuuh, I knew she was just gonna make fun of me..."

"Relax Louise, I'll handle this." The just as tried as well hummingbird pushed Louise aside and turned to back Webby in the water.

"It's been an eventful duration."

"...Webby, what happened to you?! We were all worried sick about you! Dewey in Launchpad's body asked.

"And more importantly, where were you?! We looked everywhere for you! Mount Vesuvius, The Castle of Drake Von Vladstone, The House of Haunts, The Mines of King Solomon, The Isle of Golden Geese, Ghost Town Railroad, The Swamp of No Return, The Hall of the Mermaid Queen, Hotel Strangeduck, Castle Drekmore, The Land of Tra La La, The Eldritch Academy of Enchantment and Sorcery Studies, The Lost Library of Ron Dosa..."

"Yeah, we- we even tried-" Louise began to stutter. "D-D-Doo, Doofus Drake's mansion. Before he- he kicked us out for- Oh boi, I can't believe I'm saying this..."

"Intruding in on his, steamy hot, gravy bath. And then he offered me and Violet, full-time jobs, with room and board, as his French, conjoined, ma- GAAHHH! I CAN'T EVEN SAY IT!" The duckling threw herself onto Violet and began to cry on her shoulder.

"...Please forgive her." She lightly patted her on the back. "She's emotionally distraught, and highly sensitive."

...

"Well that's were I was." Webby calmly explained. "Doofus Drake's Mansion."

"What?!" Dewey was visibly shocked.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Louise wailed mournfully up towards the kitchen ceiling.

"You were THERE?!" Scrooge asked, sounding quite dumbfounded and confused at the moment.

"Yeah! And you were right about him Louie, he was the absolute worst! I was all tied up on the floor, and then suddenly he was there, and then he touched me!"

"Wait, he touched you?" Webby's grandmother in Huey's body asked.

"He touched me!"

"Where exactly did he touch you?!"

"In a lot of places!"

...

"Webby-" Dewey began to say.

"Yeah! And then he wanted me to marry him, but then I told him off and told him to go die in a hole! He was pretty much the fourth worst living person I've ever met."

"He even gave me this pretty jumbo-sized magnetic prisoner wedding ring see?" Webby held up her ring to show it off.

"Huh? So I guess Lena actually did see him then..." Dewey said with his finger up Launchpad's bill.

"Wai- LENNNNAAAAAAA!" Webby let out a sudden shriek of concern mixed with joy and relief. "Is she okay?! Where's LENA? And please tell me she's OKAY!"

"Lena's... fine. But-"

"-But what? But what?! BUT WHAT?!" Webby tightly grasped Dewey by Launchpad's shirt collar and pulled herself up to his face.

"What are you saying?! If there's a but, there's a very very good chance for there being a doubt! Is she hungry?! Famished?! HURT?! GIVEN PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL AFFECTION?! What have heartless monsters you done with HEEERRR?!"

"Quit STALLING maaaaan! YOU TELL ME WHERE SHE ISSSS!" The unforgiving and unreasonable little merduck shook Dewey more than hard enough to rattle Launchpad's brains out.

"Webby! I don't know where she is! Ask Louise and Violet! Ahhhh!" Webby feel to the floor and stared straight at Louise and Violet. And in an instant, Louise knew she was in danger.

"Oh boi... No, no no no no- Aghhh!"

"YOU TELL ME WHERE SHE ISSSS!" Webby threw herself at the duckling and began to thoroughly interrogate her.

"The- The- The- The- Foy-errrrr!" Louise barely managed to say, and that was all Webby needed to hear.

"...I'm coming LENNNNAAA! GIRL, YOU ARE GETTING SOME HUGS!" The ecstatic little merduck threw herself down on the floor and speed crawled on her hands and tail literally as fast as she could towards the foyer and out of the kitchen door, leaving several puddles and a trail of water behind her as she raced to meet her very best friend.

"Webby!" Her concerned grandmother quickly chased after her with Huey's short duckling legs.

"Is it just me, or did that girl somehow get even stronger since the last time she was held captive?" Dewey asked.

* * *

Lena Sabrewing sat in still numb silence back against the foyer wall of McDuck Manor, this wretched place brought back memories, but most notably not too pleasant ones.

It was here many a long age ago that her grand master plan had been foiled by that witless, thoughtless, inferior being... She didn't even want to remember her name, little worthless shadow CREATURE!

Her arms and wrists ached from the coils of ropes bound around them. And her legs, AAAAARRRGHHH! They were bound together too! She wanted to kick something! And she only hoped that Webby was just as miserable and not well taken care of as she was.

They gave her everything she needed, three square meals a day, significance and purpose, a soft bed to lay in, hygiene! They even gave her, EDUCATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT! Everything that nameless brat Lena didn't deserve!

Well of course Webby was. She was weak, they were all WEAK! Those doomed brats Violet and Louise had received a telephone call earlier and dragged her back here. She didn't want to be here, and closer to McDuck! The decor was awful!

But as long as she could focus and hold out on gathering her powers, tomorrow she would finally obtain the grim vengeance she craved. And the last horrible little creature and vile brat she ever wanted to see or hear from right now was...

"-LENNNNAAAAAAA!" The last horrible little creature and vile brat she ever wanted to see or hear from right now tumbled down the stairs and charged straight towards her on her hands.

Ughh! Her happy cheery carefree screeching voice was so annoying! Wait, WHHHAAAAT?! She was shocked, and only fought harder to snap the tape off from around her bill.

Ugggaahh! HUGS! That filthy sobbing wet brat was hugging her now! No, squeezing HER with love! BAAAAAAUGH! SHE HATED IT!

All of her hard work and carefully planned vile has gone to waste! She wasn't hurt, lost, sad, scared, confused, completely bent over forward to her dark will like helpless little pawn! She was happy! She didn't know true humiliation!

"I WAS- I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT-"

Click! Webby smiled widely and pushed herself up close against Lena, inadvertently turning back on the cassette player still magically lodged inside her stomach.

She didn't care or even seem to notice that she was all tied up like that, all that she cared about was that it was Lena. And it barely even bothered her that her own tortured high-pitched voice was now coming out from inside her.

"Wait what? Uuuaahh!" Magica growled and kicked Webby away from her.

"What is THAAAT?!" She covered her ears from the screaming and crying as her Uncle Scrooge pulled her away and held her up, and it didn't take long for Webby to recognize the glaring demonic yellow eyes underneath her very best friend's bang of messy white feathers.

"Those eyes. They radiate a familiar overwhelming aura of darkness and pure unfiltered, unmatched, baleful evil..."

"Magica?" Scrooge asked.

"Yeaaaah, she about covers it."

Violet quickly dragged Louise behind her in rush to put the imprisoned shadow sorceress back in her place

"Bad Magica, bad! The hummingbird lightly slapped her. "Sit down!"

"Uhhhh, guys? Would you mind giving me a quick recap? I'm a bit, lost and confused here, heh-heh." Webby let out a soft nervous chuckle.

"Oh, would you mind if I did the honors? I'm more than enough prepared for this. It was as if my whole life has lead up to this." Violet felt a sudden warmth of self-importance begin to glow brightly in her chest.

"Sure! I missed the sound of your soothing, monotonous voice." The little merduck replied as she was put back into her source of water.

"...Splendid. Louise? Assistance please."

"Ugh, FIIIIIIINNNE. Little Mrs. Exposition." The duckling slumped forward and pulled a dark green chalkboard back into frame with scribbles and random magical illustrations written all over it.

"Oooh! Nice board. Did you guys make it yourself?"

"We got it on a loan." Violet suddenly struck her board with a stick to gather attention to herself as she began her hopefully not too long-winded informative infodump.

"On the brisk, distant evening of October the Third, De Spell and her still mostly unidentified cohorts broke into the manor and into your bedroom. And within minutes, they immediately overpowered and made off with you."

"Care to elaborate?" The hummingbird held her stick in her hands.

"Sorry, still a bit fuzzy on the finer details. But I for sure remember a loud SLAP, and then a sharp sudden pain."

"Wait..." Webby suddenly came to a certain painful realization and rubbed her face.

"Magica slapped ME!"

...

"Well that would likely be the case." Violet continued.

"We immediately rushed to your defense, but with no definitive clues of your exact whereabouts, and that during the brief malefic attack upon us in the manor, a mysterious shadowy spectre used her dark malevolent forces against us, bringing all progress for our personal searches for you, to a sudden, grinding halt..."

"I think our spirits were ironically swapped between our bodies. Fortunately for the smaller majority of us, the effects of the spell have long been reversed, currently leaving only Hubert, Dewford, Launchpad, Mr. and Mrs. Duck, and your grandmother, displaced."

The rusty gears in Webby's head turned as she tried to fully comprehended the full scope of her family's quite confusing dilemma and thought back for a bit.

"Well, I guess that would explain-" Crash!

"...Sorry!" Dewey's voice quickly rang from outside the mansion.

...

"After Lena was restored from her lowly piggish form, she-"

"Wait, Lena was turned into a pig? Was she cute?" Webby asked with a suspicious smile.

"Completely adorbs." Violet calmly replied. "She then formulated a plan to use, uh, what was it called?" She wondered.

"Scout Interceding." Scrooge reminded her.

"-Scout Interceding." The hummingbird immediately picked up where she had left off. "A highly invasive informative spell. Typically used for spying and intruding on the user's adversaries."

"We figured she could use her powers as a magical link to be precise, to connect to you from a distance, and in theory, discover exactly where you had be taken. Through your eyes. And it worked, but at heavy price."

"One of many negative side-effects of the spell, was that all the bodily sensations of the chosen mark, that would be you, are pulled back onto the original spell caster..."

"Sooooo, uh, what happened? Is that when Magica possessed her and got trapped inside her like that?" Webby asked.

"No. De Spell was inflicting severe physical, emotional, and mental pain upon you, which in turn, only came back on Lena."

"Yeah. She was crying and screaming, and kicking, and laughing-"

"Wait, laughing?" Webby as taken back by Dewey's sudden odd remark.

"She was ticking you." He quickly explained.

...

"Wait, she was tickling me?" Webby was left temporarily and utterly speechless.

"That's like one of the most early cliched forms of villainous torture and interrogation ever! Magica really needs to get with the times!"

"Yeah, but if someone really really didn't like it, and didn't have a way of stopping it when they wanted it too, wouldn't it be..." Dewey suddenly began lightly poking at Webby with his finger.

"Eh-heh-heh-heh! Dewey stop!" Webby tried to push him away from her as she laughed.

"Kinda like..."

"D-D-Dewey! Please, don't!"

"Uh, Dewford?" Louise tried to warn to him.

"Maybe a bit down..."

"-Dewford don't."

"DEW-DEW-DEWEY! STOO-OO-OPPP!"

And with one finger stroke to many, Dewey Duck sealed his fate.

"AAAAAAAAAAAARRGH! I WILL KILL YOU!" In an exhausted flying rage, the little merduck smacked Launchpad's hand away with the palm of her own hand, causing Dewey to pull it back and shake it from the pain.

"Oww-wwwww..."

Webby suddenly realized what she had done. "Oh sorry Dewey. Your face just transformed into the entirety of Doofus Drake for a bit." She quickly and he genuinely apologized to him.

"...Wait wait wait wait, hold on. Let me see if I can understand what guys are trying to say here! She was torturing me?!"

"But- But- The worst thing Magica ever did to me was, left me alone with Doofus, deprived me of food, and had me turned into a mer- person..." She paused for a bit to gather her thoughts.

"I mean sure, it was bad, but it's hardly what I would call professional torture!"

"And that's not even the worst of it." Violet added.

"The details are a bit vague, but it appears that at some point during your captivity, Magica regressed you back into a near infantile state, and then..."

"Then what? What happened?" Webby asked, quite desperately wanting to know what happened next.

"Mrs. B?" The young hummingbird glanced over to Webby's grandmother still trapped in Huey's pubescent body, who only have her a look of silent, solemn approval.

"She, molested you."

...

"Wait. Isn't that where..."

Webby felt the light fade away from her as a thick shadowy darkness covered her eyes. She couldn't even pretend she was innocent anymore, she knew very well what that word ment, but wished she never, ever had to bring up the subject of-

"Webby, you okay?" Dewey put a comforting hand on her shoulder to try and cheer her up. "Also, what's this chain?" He asked, taking up the end of long link still connected to the metal band around her neck.

"Oh!" Webby suddenly perked back up and rubbed the back of her neck. "That was, Magica. Long story."

"It's kinda rubbing my neck a whole lot. Do you guys think you can find a way to take it off? It's really heavy and makes it harder to breathe..."

"You should probably get some long-deserved rest then." Violet told her. "You do appear to be a bit flustered."

"Huh? Oh yeah, about that. Magica kinda, forced me to drink something that magically keeps me from falling asleep."

"Oooh, that's rough." Dewey had to admit.

...

"Getting back on subject, October Eighth, early morning hours. De Spell launched a surprise attack on us through the magical link created between you and Lena."

"Is this when Louie was turned into a girl and you got handcuffed together?" Webby asked.

"Precisely." Violet responded.

"Wait, how long have you two been together like that?"

"Three weeks, twenty-one days, five-hundred and four hours, and one million, eight hundred fourteen thousand, four hundred seconds. Ugggggghhhh..." Louise sighed sadly and began to fall to the floor before Violet just pulled her back up to her webbed feet.

"What about baths, and- and sleeping?" Webby wondered.

Violet just stared forward in her usual, stoic silence. "...We've gotten to know each other quite well."

"Yeah, she taught me how to be a girl, and I thought her how act and tell genuinely convincing lies." Louise smiled, actually feeling proud of herself. "Go ahead, tell them a good lie."

"But would it be proper?" Violet asked.

"Oh yes, absolutely."

Turning to the rest of her family, the young hummingbird gave them all slight subtle smirk. "...Where you all aware that Louise here is surprising skilled at knitting?"

"Oooh! Nice one! Even I believed that that for a second!" Webby was impressed, while Louise just turned bright red in anger and embarrassment.

"Vi! You specifically promised you wouldn't tell them THAT!" She got right up in her face. Despite this, Violet showed no emotion whatsoever.

"I lied." She said.

"...My own fault, I've created a monster." Louise only blamed herself.

...

"Ahem." Violet cleared her throat. "After the quick altercation, De Spell forcibly possessed Lena's body, seemingly unaware that she-"

"Wait, what's an altercation?" Webby asked.

"A fight. We had a fight."

"Yeah, we almost all died. Yet dispute all that, it was still somehow pretty anticlimatic." Dewey admitted.

"...Heh, heh heh." Webby let out a dark mix of a cheated and disbelieving soft creepy laugh.

"You guys had it easy! You were all probably wearing clothes or something! I was naked!"

"Webby what?" Dewey questioned.

"You were naked?" Mrs. Beakley asked. "Who saw you naked?!"

"Only everyone that was there probably!"

"Wait, you beat Magica, without legs?!" Dewey asked in wide-eyed Dewey bewilderment. "Webby, even for you, I'd think that's impossible!"

"No no no. You've got it all wrong. Of course I had legs, and it was much more complicated than that!" She explained.

"Time travel, alternate universes, angsty gods, ancient curses, Moonpocalypse, deepest miseries, broken promises, chainsaws, skeletons, mermaids, cockroaches, spies, Beagle Boys, tanks, Darkwing Duck, delicious oysters, Gladstone Gander, Lanuchpad, all commonly expected end of the world stuff."

...

"After the quick altercation, De Spell possessed Lena's body, seemingly unaware that she could use her amulet to hold back De Spell and her powers within herself. She's been a prisoner in her body ever since."

"In conclusion- Excuse me, Webbigail?" Violet finally took notice of Webby once again looking very down and heavy-hearted.

"Lena, sacrificed herself, to try and save me? But- But she's already been through so much." The little merduck stared down at her hands and began to twiddle her thumbs.

"Magica told me, when I was there. She hurt Lena, said she was nothing but a slave to her. That she cut her open, and made her suffer so much... I didn't want to believe her, but she told it so convincingly. I just couldn't shake the feeling that, maybe all that she told me, wasn't a lie..."

"Man, could we either just stick with the relived happy to finally see you again joy or deep emotional angst for once?" Dewey asked. "I'm not sure whether to laugh, or cry..."

"Lena told us." Her Uncle Scrooge told her. "She said she was worried that Magica was just going to do the same to you."

Dispite hearing this and finally getting an honest answer, Webby really didn't feel that much better.

"I- I don't get it, Lena is my best friend. Why didn't she tell me about it? I thought she could trust me with everything. I just don't get it? Why didn't she tell me?! Lena... why? Why?"

"Well she- probably just thought that it would upset you. You can understand that right?" Scrooge put his hand on her shoulders, yet Webby still refused to make full eye contact with him.

"Maybe. But, if we knew, we could have all helped her a long time ago."

Suddenly, an idea came to her. "Wait, do you think she can hear us all right now?"

"Without question." Violet replied.

"...One moment please." Webby politely excused herself and pulled herself onto the floor up close to Lena. Gently putting her hand on the teen's forehead, she felt her familiar warmth and gave her a comforting friendly smile.

Dispute Magica still having full control over her born from shadows body, Webby knew her best friend was still very much alive and well on the inside.

"Hi Lena. It's me Webby. You don't have to worry about me anymore, I'm safe now, everything's fine. You can let go of Magica now..."

"Magica is still in possession of her powers, it would just be putting you at risk again." Violet informed her.

"She most likely feels responsible for Magica being let back out into the world in the first place. I doubt Lena would ever let go of her as long as she's still a threat to you and us all."

"...Well then we'll just have to damn well exorcise that witch straight out!" Webby proclaimed with a curled up first in the air.

"WEBBY!" Mrs. Beakley was shocked by her granddaughter's unusual use of profanity.

"Mr. McDuck, this all doesn't add up." Violet scratched her chin in deep intensive thought. "It's almost as if Webbigail experienced an entirely different outcome from what we first thought, like she's an almost completely separate person. But is it even possible?"

BANG! The twin doors to the foyer were suddenly and without care first their hinges thrown open. In walked Manny the Headless Man-Horse and a grumpy half-blind Gyro Gearloose carrying in Launchpad with Fenton beside them as he rolled in inside the heavily damaged Gizmosuit.

Although it was a bit odd to see Magica's decapitated head upon Manny's neck, Scrooge and his family knew better not to really question it at this point, there were much more important pressing matters at hand anyway.

"HMPH!" Gyro lightly tossed the annoying small rescued child on his head onto the floor.

"Next time you almost run me over and get me KILLED, I'll- Well, by law, there's little I can do to you besides standing you in the corner."

"So," He crossed his arms down at him. "there's that..."

"Appreciate it!" Launchpad thanked him while still very much upside down.

"Great galloping gallifrey! Impossible!" Scrooge could barely believe what his old aging eyes were seeing.

"What?" Gyro questioned aloud.

"You're- You're all dead!"

"...What what?"

"You, Fenton, Penumbra, the, Man-Horse... I saw them put you all in the ground with my own eyes!" The old duck was practically speechless.

"I'm a ghost. How did I die?" Manny asked with a series of slow, distinctive claps.

"How is- How is this even possible? Wha- What in all the high holy Loch Ness even went on out there?!"

Gyro frowned.

"...Nothing. Definitely NOT that we transcended though literal time and space into an alternate dimension where we all died probably painful horrific deaths, and that the Beagle Boys definitely did NOT steal the Time Tub to steal the deed to Duckburg away from you to destroy all of the time stream and our lives. I mean, definitely nothing at ALL similar to that."

...

"What? Oh, s-sure."

"I'm a ghost. How did I die?" Manny clapped.

"Your- Your lab. There was a huge explosion, and the lab was flooded, so Fethry re-purposed it into an underwater lab." Scrooge tried his best to explain.

"And there's a difference? It's always been an underwater lab."

"No. It's LITERALLY an underwater lab now." The old duck told him.

"What what?"

"He said he found it easier to connect to the sea life that way..."

"WHAAAT?! That HACK, took over my lab?!" Gyro rushed over to look out a window.

"...Well, since you were dead and all."

"-We're not dead and all! They were just mindless, left over time clones or something like that!"

"What?" Scrooge was even more confused than usual.

"You see, time is. Well, more like a big ball of-" The scientist paused, realizing how mad he actually sounded right now.

"It's- It's unstable, complex, and wildly unpredictable. Alternate timelines open up, chances of your body fizzling into infinity all across spacetime rise through the roof, and- You're not actually buying this right now are you?" He asked as if he already knew the answer.

"...I'm- I'm just an old duck! What in blazes would I know about time travel?"

"Soooo uh, would that explain what happened to poor Huey then-"

"Of course, time travel!" Webby suddenly interrupted Fenton. "Launchpad, the Timephoon, didn't you say you were sent to the future?" She turned to face him on the floor.

"What? Oh noooo. I didn't go to future, I was sent to the past!" The pilot replied.

"To the same exact year I was born! To my old childhood home Illinois! To the night I was conceived." Launchpad paused in deep, existential, inner thought.

"Crashed in right through the roof..."

...

"Oh, and then I was sent to the future!"

"Oh thank God. I was worried you got sent all the way back to the Ducktanic and crashed it into an iceberg or something..."

"Webby what?" Dewey questioned.

"Huh? I wonder what's happening to us in the universe where we're having normal, family problems?" She wondered.

* * *

Meanwhile. In an alternate timeline. Several days in the past.

...

"Suck on stone ye scabrous scorpion scoundrels!" Scrooge McDuck threw a rock down onto a massive sumo wrestling sized desert arachnid and hit it smack in the middle of the head, causing him and his fellow buddies to hiss up at him in spite.

"Finch's Journal says the lost lamp of Collie Babba is here!"

"How many lamps did this jerk have?" Louie didn't even bother to look up from his phone.

"All we have to do is beat the scorpions, survive the gauntlet, and travel four through the desert on foot!"

"...Aw! I wish we could just have normal family problems!" Donald mumbled to himself as rocked back and forth with his kness in his arms, unknowingly rubbing against a magical golden lamp that heard his desperate wish loud and clear.

Pulling everyone's attention away from the scorpions, the lamp spun around in the air and sparkled as it released a trail of magical purple smoke that just so happened to be Donald's most desired lord and savior, a benevolent, honest-to-goodness, wish granting genie.

"Ha! Ha ha ha ha!" The impish floating figure laughed as the magical lamp floated back into Donald's hands.

"...Your wish, is my command. Shoobey!" The temple was immediately filled with smoke.

* * *

...

"Mehhhhh..." Webby refused to believe it.

"Wait, what day is this again?" She asked.

"It's- October Thirtieth. One day until Halloween." Her Uncle Scrooge told her.

"One, two, three, four-" Fenton began to count down on his Gizmo fingers, coming to a certain horrible realization as reached the final digital.

"Dr. Gearloose, Webby has been missing in this universe for almost four weeks..."

A heavy wave silence and dread filled the mansion foyer.

"If you all don't mind, I have to go pay respects to myself." Gyro walked off to leave, but stopped himself to turn around with his hand on the wooden doorframe.

"Oh. And you're welcome, punchy..." He shut the doors behind him.

"...Now what did he mean by that?" Scrooge wondered.

"Uh, Uncle Scrooge, do you think we should we tell her?" Dewey asked.

"About what? Oh, that..."

"Webby, we've got some bad news to tell you about Circe."

"Yeah. I- I know... She's evil, and teamed up with Magica." Webby started to look a little sad again.

"Huey and Lena both died because of her. I swear, I'll never let it happen again..."

Silence filled the foyer once again.

...

"Guys! I almost forgot! I know who the leader of F.O.W.L. is! They're still out there!"

"Webby, you're sure?!" Her grandmother asked.

"Yeah! I'm sure I'm sure! He even threatened to destroy me himself! His name is-"

"Uh oh." Bradford Buzzard and his brothers watched nervously together from the top of the foyer stairs and carefully aimed a fully loaded F.O.W.L. ray gun at her head. The seconds were ticking by, and they only had one shot at this, they couldn't take a chance.

PEEEW! The invisible laser hit Webby directly in the back of the head.

"-Mickey Mouse!" She threw a single proud of herself fist up in the air.

"Webby what?"

...

"...Mickey Mous-" The little merduck paused in sudden self-realization.

"Huh? Maybe I wasn't as sure about that as I first thought I was..."

"Excuse us, pardon us. Coming through. Pardon us please..." The three elderly buzzards walked by with their suitcases in hand and straight out door.

"...They seem nice!" Webby smiled to herself.

"?" Manny clapped once on the floor, he wasn't too sure if he was just imaging things or not.

"Wait. If- If this is an alternate universe, then- then does that mean that there's two of me now?!" Webby gasped in excitement and held her hands to sides if her head.

"That is soooooo cooooool! It'll be just like having a younger sister! Except your younger sister is actually yourself! And we'll get to spend our first Halloween together, and go as the creepy hotel hallway forever and ever twins!"

"C'mon guys! Let's go raid that rich kid's overgrown tree house, kick their butts, and- Well actually, you'd have to do most the butt-kicking for me..."

"Uh, Webby? I don't think she'd like that." Dewey said.

"Wait, why?"

"The other you probably spent like a full month stuck in that mansion with those monsters, not to mention Doofus. I think she's had more than enough Halloween and spooks to last her a lifetime."

"Aww, c'mon Dewey." Webby just laughed it off. "I'm sure she's just... fine..."

"You know, for someone who was kidnapped by an evil dark shadow sorceress and almost got tortured by her just for being part of our family, you're taking this shockingly well. Webby, you sure you're going to be alright?" Dewey asked, sounded a lot more concerned for her than usual.

"Sure I'm sure! We're the Ducks, we've been through much worse than this! I mean just look at Granny! She held through well enough."

"Pain is just another social consruct..." Mrs. Beakley held Huey's left shoulder in her grasp.

"Webby! But you didn't actually get LITERALLY tortured! The other you has!" Louise suddenly cried in Webby's face.

"Even though Magica was far out of the picture, who knows what those horrible monsters there have done with her! Uh, you! She already beat you till Lena broke down and begged us to make it to stop, half strangled you to death while forcing you to smoke, and then cut open your tongue and hung a weight from itttt!"

"Not only that, but they also brainwashed you into thinking Lena was never truly your BEST FRIENDDD!"

...

"Wait, whaaat? You're, making this up right?"

"...You all stay here. Lad?" Scrooge walked up to Fenton.

"Oh c'mon!" Webby complained.

"Mr. McDuck, sir!" He sat still in attention.

"This is a hostage situation. We'll need backup, it'll be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Launchpad perked up and grinned in sudden, fanboyish excitement. "You mean, when there's trouble you call D.W. kinda dangerous?" He asked.

...

"Cloud of smoke and he appears,

The Master of surprise kinda dangerous?"

"Launchpad..." Scrooge began to say.

"...What we need is, Darkwing Duc-"

"Launchpad, no. This is job for trained professionals only. Stay with Beakley and the kids, we'll handle this."

"That's right, M'Ma! I've got to let her know I'm alright! But how does one go about telling their mother that they're just not quite as dead as they first thought they were?" Fenton wondered.

"I'm a ghost. How did I die?" Manny clapped.

"Don't know Manny. I just don't know." Fenton said as he, Scrooge, and Manny left, leaving Webby, Huey, Dewey, Louise, Violet, Lena, Magica, Mrs. Beakley, Duckworth, and Donald alone in the foyer.

"...Duckworth, hold me up and float over there please. And could you also transform into your big scary door-to-door salesmen warding demon form? It adds a whole lot to the slow dramatic tension."

"Ah-hem hem hem. Is it really necessary, Miss Vanderquack?" The ghostly butler asked.

"Just do it."

At her order, Duckworth quickly transformed into his Demonworth form as Magica just glared murderously at the two of them from behind Lena's bloodshot, yellow eyes.

Everyone watched as Webby was slowly lifted up out of the water by her arms high above the dark sorceress trapped inside the teenager's body and frowned down coldy at her.

"You've lost Magica. Your region of terror and vile is over. It's all over for you, dirty shadow abuser..."

"All Lena ever wanted was a family, people that would love her and cherish her. She's a beautiful, intelligent, sensitive person, that somehow came from a cold-hearted spawn of darkness and evil like you."

"You didn't deserve her, but she deserved better. Well she showed you. And if I ever have to hear another screeching loud voice ever again, I'll be much too soon..."

BANG! The front doors were kicked wide open.

"Break out adoption papers boys! You kids just got yourselves a new big sis!"

"NOOOOOO! Birth your own Earth offspring yourself! The high Moon courts will see you CHAIIINS!" Penumbra fought and struggled with all her might for freedom as Della cradle carried her through the crowded foyer and up the stairs.

"...I mean, Aunt Della was always a few years older than Penny anyway. It was expectantly inevitable." Webby said.

...

"So guys! Do you think you could wheel me up to my room real quick then back to the pool? And then later, you think you could also run down to the beach and find me a couple of seashells to help me complete the authentic merduck look?"

"If I'm going to be stuck like this for a while, I might as well get fully culturally appropriated. Or is it actually offensive to the merfolk women to assume they all wear seashell bras?"

"Webby! You will wear what you usually wear, and not something so conspicuous!" Her grandmother clearly disagreed.

"Awwww, Granny..."

"Hey, what's the big deal? Just let her wear whatever she wants. It's her choice." Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body finally spoke up, causing Webby to give him an extra long double take and stare at him in disbelief.

Something was very, very wrong. And she just couldn't shake the feeling the she was forgetting somebody.

"...What's up with Huey? Why's he acting so weird?" She asked as she turned around to face Dewey.

"It's the stress. It got to him." He told her.

"I'm just so glad to see you again Webby! I was so worried about you!" The Juniorwood Chuck stepped forward to shake her hand. Webby was still not at all impressed.

"Huey, listen to me. Look at me, look me straight in the eye, and tell me you're not a spy!"

Huey gave her an uncomfortably long pause.

"Webby, I'm not a spy..."

...

"Okay. So uh, what's the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook say about merpeople then? Anything good in there you're just itching to tell me? Do they glow in the dark? Sleep with their eyes open? Lay eggs?!" She gasped.

"DO THEY SWIM IN SCHOOLS?! I'd be nice to learn more about my own kind, and I may or may not have deus ex machina life saving emotional adrenaline magic now..."

Huey gave her another uncomfortably long, awkward pause.

"Sorry! But the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook has nothing about merpeople." He finally replied.

"...I'm a Junior Woodchuck, not fish scientist."

"You mean an Ichthyologist?" Louise asked, getting herself put on the spot again of unwanted attention.

"Okay, FIIIIIIINNNE! You got me! Violet got me into books too." She admitted with a tired sigh.

"Knowledge is strength, use it wisely." Violet stepped forward and simply quoted herself.

"Yeah, but who would know all about fish and sea life stuff?" Dewey wondered. "Like a close but slightly mixed-up eccentric relative that lives and breathes under the sea?" They all thought for a bit.

"...Cousin Fethry!"

* * *

...

"Pick a card, any card. Which cards, will they pick?" A tall grey Beagle Boy all dressed in edgy black and purple held out a hand full of shuffled playing to his three brothers in the close woods outside McDuck Manor.

"Hmmmm. I chose, that one!" Bigtime picked the first card at the far end of the hand.

"This one!" Bouncer picked his card.

"Hhrhhrh." Burger took a card.

"Excellent! Now... Put them baaaaaaaack." Black Arts spoke in a mysterious creepy voice and poorly shuffled all the cards together as his brothers watched.

"...Let's see, your cards were, the Queen of Hearts!"

"Hey, that's was my card!"

"Ahhhh! That was mine too!"

"Hhrhhrrh!"

"Wow! How'd he do that?" All his brothers clapped for him as Black Arts took a bow, while their thieving mother silently slipped out of Scrooge McDuck's office window and slid all the way down a gutter.

"Look, there she is. There she is!"

"You got it Ma?" Bigtime asked with a wide hopeful smile.

"Got it." She smiled back with an old piece paper rolled up in her hand and then climbed back into the Time Tub with her sons.

"...This is it boys! All your Ma's hard work and dedication has finally paid off! For the future of Duckburg is ours! AHHH- HA-HA-HA! HA-HA!"

"C'mon boys! Laugh with me."

"AHHH- HA-HA-HA! HA-HA!" They all laughed an evil laugh together in villainous victory.

"I just love me some good ol' fashioned family reunions..."

Flash! The Time Tub disappeared back into the timestream. The new age of the Beagle Clan, had finally began.


	28. Sleepless in Duckburg!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Heavy chapter ahead. Sensitive readers be warned.

October 29, 8:03 PM

Doofus Drake's Mansion

Basement - Fourth Floor

_..._

_"Quack of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee!"_

The first verse of Quack of Ages Cleft for Me began to play, forcing Webby Vanderquack into yet another twisting hopeless endeavor to pull herself free.

Reaching almost dangerously high eardrum rupturing decibels, the deafening loud discordant of classic religious music blared through the itchy pair of earbuds taped around her head and vibrated her wax clogged ear canals. Yet the minor infected blockage still didn't give her a hint of relief.

She didn't want to believe that she was home, she just couldn't be. The familiar surrounding mansion hallway walls were dirty and decrepit, the wallpaper was torn off and filled with clustered patches of miniscule, oddly disturbing holes. The air was lonely and cold, yet somehow hot and stuffy with a damp taste of urine wafting about.

No light shone from outside the window frames, no bird dared to sing, it was just an infinite vacuum of utter nothingness behind the ripped up, dilapidated curtains.

Suddenly, a cold chill ran up her back, like a harsh piercing of sudden frigidness in her spine that was somehow aware and told her she was being watched. Her feathers all stood up on end, she was not alone.

Turning her head around, she saw them. Staring straight past her, and standing just far enough away so she couldn't be sure. They looked like Huey, Dewey, and Louie, but it couldn't be them, it just couldn't.

They were much taller than normal, or maybe she was just shorter. Their body proportions were uneven, with their sickly grey feathers filthy and molting off as their life had long been drained away from their unnaturally calm, uncanny faces. Just looking at them made her feel ever more sick, it was all giving her a terrible spitting migraine.

Their colored coded clothes were tattered and torn, hardly recognizable now from simple moth-eaten dishrags that only become even more decayed as they fell apart right before her eye. And hidden underneath, slowly oozing out from several poorly sewn up bite marks and dried rotten scabs, it looked like they were... bleeding!

No. N-No! No no no no- w-w-w-WAAAIIITTT- SHE WAS JUST SEEING THINGS! SHE WAS JUST SEEING THINGS! HER EYES WERE COVERED! SHE WAS JUST SEEING THINGS! SHE WASN'T HOME, SHE WASN'T HOME! SHE WAS STILL-

_"Let the water and the BLOOD from Thy wounded side which FLOAD!"_

That was it! They said something to her, they definitely said something to her! In picture perfect hypnotized exact unison they said something to her! Yet somehow without making a single sound.

Was it a warning? Just a friendly hello? A threat? Who knows? And Webby was frozen solid in place in overwhelming, heart pounding dread. They definitely said something to her.

Their eyes were blank and lifeless. They didn't blink, they didn't wanna blink, they couldn't blink, they refused to blink, they didn't even have eyelids. She just couldn't be sure.

And suddenly, without warning, the Duck triplets all reacted in similar fearfilled horror and ran, their legs barely holding them up long enough to disappear down into the thick darkness of the hallway that led on for forever.

She tried to call out to them, but no voice came out, not even the slightest small squeak. She was short of breath, her chest felt like it was on fire, yet empty, and it hurt so much to even try to move her tongue enough to form a single intelligible word. This is what Uncle Donald felt didn't he? Or maybe she actually could speak, but she just couldn't hear it. Who knew for sure?

Wait. Were they, running from her? She couldn't be sure, she just couldn't be sure, she couldn't even think clearly anymore. She could barely even move now, everything around her was just a noisy spinning blur. She couldn't even think clearly anymore.

Thud. The backs of her bleeding agonized webbed feet pressed up against something, causing what was left of the feathers down her back to stand up again in fear again. Something soft, something familiar, something, behind her. Somehow, she found the strength and courage to turn around.

Her whole body shook, her legs trembled, and her breath gave out. She tried to scream, but she couldn't. She tried to catch her breath, but she couldn't. She tried to run for it, but she couldn't.

Something was inside her, holding her back. Stiffening up her muscles so she couldn't act on her will to just ran away. A dark, malevolent, ungodly force of unfailing darkness and evil, silently screaming at her from inside of her head.

It was alive. Breathing, heavily, through her own lungs. Living closely in her warmth, feasting off life, and forcing her to watch in silence at figure that now lay before her.

Her bill had been repeatedly sewn shut, her eye had been stabbed clean through, black shadowy blood permanently stained her striped sweater, matching the same dull color of her empty, unharmed scelra. The figure that lay before her, dead at her at her feet, was...

W-W-W-WAIT! MR. STAAAAAAAAARLIIING! MASTER MAGICA! DOOFUSSSSSSSSS! PLEASE LET ME GO! PLEEEAAASSSEEE! I'VE LEARNED MY LESSON, I GIVE UPPPPPPPPP! I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL! I'LL BE YOUR FIERCE ONE! I'LL PROMISSSSSSSSSE!

_"Thee of sin the double cure save from raft and make me pure, let me hime myself in THEE!_ "

The chorus now screamed at her, they knew what she did, and they were furious with her. And who could blame them? She had stabbed, her very best frien-

NO, NO! NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOO! "NNNNNMMMMMMMMM-MMMMmmmnnnnn!"

Webby suddenly broke free back into the harsh, hot darkness of reality, only to be immediately greeted by a heavy wave of unrelenting terrible pain and a warm stream of tears running down her cheeks and through her soaked through blindfold.

Any hopes of standing strong and defiant against her captor's girm plans for her like a strong girl had long been lost. Something inside her just... broke. That's the only way she could describe it.

It hurt to try and stand still in obedience, it hurt to try and struggle free in defiance. Her tongue felt it the worst. She couldn't tell if it was bledding, or if it had been torn halfway through the center.

She was immobile. A living, breathing, sentient statue of Magica De Spell's mastery and final authority over her. She was, her Master's puppet, and she was long ready to have her strings pulled.

Where, even was SHE?! She was ready to give up! She had already given up! This... This was all part of her Master's plan of grand revenge against her! To give her hope of mercy for giving herself up to her, only to push her even harder!

Her little heart pounded heavily inside her chest, but she wished it didn't, she wished it stopped, she hated her heart. She wanted to throw up, but there wasn't enough in her stomach to hurl, just a mix of settling dark shadows and acid.

Cold sweat poured down her trembling numb body. She was dizzy, her mouth was dry, and she was so alone. All alone with her captors who wanted nothing more than to pointlessly and continuously tease and torment her.

She was hungry, she was thirsty, she was tired, she was exhausted, she was itchy, her wrists ached, and she hated those damnmed repeating songs. Just how much punishment could one little duck take?

She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she couldn't speak, she couldn't think, she couldn't- she couldn't- she- SHE COULDN'T STAND IT ANYMORE! This... THIS WAS TOO MUCH!

PLEEEAAASSSEEE! SOMEONE, SOMEONE PLEASE! PLEEEAAASSSEEE! PLEASE SOMEONE FIND ME! SOMEONE PLEASE JUST LET ME GO! PLEEEAAASSSEEE! PLEASE JUST LET ME DIIIIEEE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEEEAAASSSEEE! I'll DO ANYTHING! I'll DO ANYTHING! ANYTHIIIIIIIIIIING!

_"In my hand no prize I bring simply to Thy cross I CLIIINNNG!"_

Something held her tongue in place above her, holding her head up and bill wide open to whatever someone wanted to force down her throat.

It wouldn't be long now until Mr. Starling gave her her third day drink of water and quiet creepy whispering in her ears, and at least it ment she would get another short break from those terrible, repeating, blaring songs.

That- That water was what was keeping her alive! But- But if she drank it and obeyed like a good girl, this would just keep going on forever! And if she tried to refuse it again and tried to fight back, he would just punish her again!

No, she couldn't refuse. Maybe if she took it without kicking or crying a lot like last time, he would figure she'd learned her lesson and would just let her go. God, she was so thirsty! She just wanted some juice...

_"While I draw this pleading BREATH when my eyes shall close in DEATH!"_

She was immediately back in the familiar dilapidated hallway, which had somehow grown ever worse and ruined since she'd last seen it. And she was now, face to face, with her greatest fear, staring her straight back, inches away from her face. And at that moment, she felt another light warm trickle run down her legs. She couldn't understand what she did to deserve this.

This was just like a nightmare, but the opposite was now somehow true. She wasn't having a nightmare, she wasn't having a dream, she was still wide awake, she couldn't be. It was much worse than that!

Something much, much WORSE!

Lena was, NOW STANDING UP ON HER FEET. JUST, STARING AT HER! WITH THOSE EMPTY SOULESS BLACK EYES! SHE HADN'T EVEN SEEN HER MOVE! ONE SECOND, SHE WAS DEAD ON THE FLOOR, THEN THE NEXT, SHE WAS JUST, STARING AT HER! SHE HADN'T EVEN SEEN HER MOVE!

She suddenly let out a wide impish smile as her vile flesh rotted clean off her bones, leaving behind only a black, red eyed outline of her very best friend.

WAIT! IT'S- IT'S NOT REAL! SHE WASN'T REAL! NONE OF THIS IS REAL! NOOOOO! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME! ANYBOOOODDDYYY!

_"Lord when I rise to world UNKNOWN and behold the on Thy THRONE!_ " The chorus screamed at louder, faster, and angrier than ever before.

She mouthed something to her, as she laid her weight on top of her on the floor and scratched her face with a slow cold fingerstroke. She- She FELT IT!

A foul moldy odor filled the entirety of the hall. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she had HER!

NOOO! NOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEEEAAASSSEEE!

Lena's presence finally began to rejoin back into her body. She was, her shadow.

NOOOOOOOOOOO! I SWEAR I'll BE GOOD! I SWEAR I'll BE GOOD! SOMEBODY PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE! PLEEEAAASSSEEE! PLEASE SOMEONE FIND ME! PLEEEAAASSSEEE! I'll- I'll...

Webby stopped struggling, finally accepting in peace that nobody was ever going to save her. Her friends, her family, she didn't need them anymore. She was completely, all by herself now. She'd have to make it, all on her own.

This was her fate. She was one day going to die here, all alone, all by herself. Standing up tall on her toes, she stood in still silence, awaiting whatever Jim Starling, her Master Magica, Doofus Drake, or whoever was going to throw at her. She would be good.

_"Quack of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in Thee, let me hide myself in THEE!"_

"Muh-ha-ha... ha...ha... ha..."

* * *

...

From amidst all the lonely loud darkness and misery from within her little desolate prison hidden deep underneath Duckburg, someone suddenly and finally scooped Webby up from off her toes on the floor and threw her over their shoulder.

She wasn't really that heavy now, so she wasn't much of a chore to carry around or manage anymore. She didn't even have the strength or motivation for it, so she didn't even bother or care enough to fight back for that matter, at least the music had finally stopped.

With every step, she felt the gentle rocking of the strong silent figure carrying her all the way up the basement stairs. She didn't even care who it was, or whatever they wanted to do with her.

If it was someone rescuing her she figured, they probably would have untied her arms and legs, taken her soaked blindfold off, and reassured her with the obvious lie that everything was going to be alright. This was not a rescue.

Maybe Mr. Starling or Doofus rented her off to someone who wanted to make out with her or something. Who cared? She certainly didn't, she didn't even care anymore, that wouldn't be the worst thing that happened to her. And at least someone paid enough attention to her to want her of all people.

Her legs swung back and forth as her head rested at the side of the strong figure's shoulder. Oddly enough, this was the most comfortable she had been in a long while, yet she still didn't have the young naive optimism or will to appreciate it.

Normal adventure family Webby might have appreciated it, but not slave prisoner puppet plaything Webby. All her life revolved around was getting hurt, spit at, beaten up, drugged, humiliated, and brought down to lowest forms of life possible.

Her body wasn't her own here. She no longer have the respect and dignity she once had. Everyone here probably already knew exactly what she looked like underneath what was once personal and private safely hidden under her clothes, and she absolutely hated that. It was her body, they didn't have a damn right!

Normal adventure family Webby might have had the gullibility and ignorance to just brush it off and move on with her life, but not this Webby. This Webby saw things in a much darker, grittier, unforgiving, light.

She wasn't lost, alone, scared, and all ridden with guilt. She hated all those attention seeking melodramatic kids, all torn up over nothing worthwhile. That was all their own faults, and she definitely wasn't to blame for this.

She understood everything now, and she wouldn't mind the least little bit if everyone living in this hell of a mansion right now were literally ripped apart into bloody pieces right in front of her. And at that moment, she was finally laid flat on her back on a cold, hard, smooth surface. And it hurt, her mouth completely took over.

"Fu... Fu... Fuc..."

She felt the tight lengths of strong tough rope come loose from around legs and wrists as she was rolled onto her stomach.

It had been so long since her poor aching limbs had actually been separate from each other, and she didn't even seem to care how much her clothes weren't covering her up and just how filthy and wet she was back there. And finally, her tear soaked black sleepmask was pulled off from around her head.

Her half caked over with sleep crud left eye stung and as a dim ray of light shone from the nearby stove in quiet still darkness of the mansion kitchen, she was fully untied now.

Maybe she actually was being rescued, or if she wasn't, at least they now had the courtesy of not having her being tied up all the time. She hated being tied up, it was boring, inconvenient, and it hurt a whole lot after a while. It wasn't like she could properly run away now anyway.

Being carefully turned back around and on onto her back, Webby's heart suddenly stopped, her breath gave out, her left eye was filled with visible fear and hopeless dread. She saw who had brought her up here, the room shrunk down to a tiny, claustrophobic shed. And she was terrified at what we saw.

The Sorceress of the Shadows, Magica De Spell, a living, rotting, eyeless abomination of a witch, stood tall over as she laid on her back on the kitchen counter. Her slender skeleton form was covered by a spotless white nurse's outfit in a cruel ironic mockery of what so was about to do to her.

"Hi..." She glanced down at her with a calm subtle smirk.

...

"I AM A DUMB LITTLE SLUT, WHORE FACE, HUSSY-"

"Stop it! Settle dow-"

"AAAHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHHH! I SWEAR I'LL BE GOOD! I SWEAR I'LL BE GOOD! I swear! I SWEAR! I SWEAR!"

She began to kick about and cry uncontrollably, completely exhausting herself in a stress induced painful sobbing fit until the world around her finally came into focus through her tears.

The person who was holding her down was indeed not her grim Master Magica De Spell, but instead the elderly head of the Beagle Clan, Ma Beagle.

With a frown, she held up the small weight that used to be attached to Webby's tongue for her to see, leaving behind the metal ring still cut into her sensitive infected flesh. Yet Webby still wasn't the least bit grateful for it, in fact, she was fuming. She was furious.

"WELL?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE?! WHAT DO YOU- Oh GOD this hurts so much. I hate my life..."

The heavily sleep deprived young duckling let herself fall onto her back and clutched her still broken arm in terrible throbbing pain. Her being tied up for so long really didn't help it heal that much.

"Phew! What in all manner of purgatory even went on down there?" Ma Beagle asked while waving her hand in front of her nose in disgust.

"It smells like-"

"I'm- I'm sorry. I- I couldn't help it." Webby quickly apologized in shame, hoping that she wouldn't be punished for it.

"Wait, is that... UUUUUUUAAAAAHHH!" She gasped after recognizing the familiar delicious scent of greasy fast food in the air.

"A HAMBURGER?! UUUUUUUAAAAAHHH!" She gasped again. "AND FRIIIIES?!"

"UUUUUUUAAAAAHHH! HAMBURGER HIPPO! Wait. What if they're- if they're, poisoned?!" Webby paused and glanced wide-eyed down at the taunting brown paper bag in front of her on the counter.

"...I DON'T CARE!" Webby quickly snatched up the burger and began to immediately scarf the whole thing down her mouth whole.

Although she wasn't very picky, she was so hungry and starved for a good meal, she'd eat pretty much anything other than cold unsweetened oatmeal and raw uncooked bread crumbs at this point.

"Eat up kid. You'll need the strength..." Ma Beagle watched crossly as Webby just continued to happily chow down on her long-awaited, sweet savory meal.

With the soft light and her sitting up, she could finally see just how bad of a shape Webby was in, and it wasn't a pretty picture. Her entire visage was a disheveled unkempt mess, making her look much more like a poor mistreated unfed zombie than an actual living duckling.

She had been dressed in what looked like a miniature version of Jim Starling's own signature outfit, compete with a jacket, cape, and an oversized, bright red fedora.

From what she could see, patches of her now sicky green feathers had fallen out in random immodest places. Revealing her rough, patchy, pink skin underneath that was covered with a wide assortment of blisters, bruises, cuts, and burns.

Even more alarming was her weight. She was much skinnier and lighter than most young ducklings, even for a four year old. She had been starved, lacking any and all traces of baby fat she once had, it was a miracle that she was even alive.

Her right eye was now completely closed shut, while her heavily dilated left eye shone of a dull yellow color with a shrunken in slit pupil in the darkness.

Her short duckling legs had been unethically vandalized all over with all manner of deep visible cuts and crude graffiti scribbled on in black permanent marker, not an inch of her legs were spared.

The tips off all her tiny delicate fingers had been cut off and thrown down the garbage disposal probably, while her left thumb was now completely gone.

Her long uncut hair was a dirty and unsightly mess, reaching all the way across the counter behind her and over short, messy, tail feathers.

After quickly gobbling down her juicy meal and realizing how oddly offended she felt by just being fed like a dog like this, Webby frowned down at her kness while completely ignoring the fries beside her.

"...Why are you here? How can you bring me lower? What more could you possibly do to me?"

"Why are you green?" Ma Beagle simply asked.

"Who cares? Who cares about anything anymore?" The young duckling laid back down on the counter and shut her eyes, her persistent headache was only getting worse by the second.

"You don't obviously. You're just like all the others, you're just here to make fun of me. Maybe to hit me, maybe just to kick me. Because that's all I am to you isn't it? Just a thing, just a thing to be used..."

"What's wrong with your eye?" Ma Beagle asked as she gently touched her right eye, it felt like something sharp and hard had been lodged deep inside it.

"Ow! STOP! Don't- Don't TOUCH IT! Aaaaaaahhhh!" Webby screamed back in pain and fought hard to swat her hand away.

"Where's Magica? Has she given up?! Left to torture and maim another helpess and defenseless person because I stopped being fun? Huh? Is that IT?"

"Why aren't you laughing, aren't you supposed to be laughing? Isn't this funny enough to you?! Is having me like this not good enough? Maybe you'd like to finish the job yourself?"

The young duckling pushed herself onto her stomach and pulled up the bottom of her jacket to get smacked. Any shame she might had by exposing herself like this was long gone, she just couldn't care less.

"Go ahead! Just PUNISH me some more! Go ahead, just do it ALREADY! YOU- You know you want...want to..."

Her tired and frustrated high-pitched voice trailed off into a pained soft whisper, what was even the point of talking anymore? Even though that terrible awful thing was finally cut off from her tongue, she still felt it's weight. Pulling her down, and leaving her in a constant state of almost incomprehensible speech and unspeakable agony. It still hurt so much.

"...Whoa, she's cute. And also really really ugly. Kinda a funny looking cute."

"Go ahead, laugh it up you idiot..." Webby coldy muttered without even bothering to look up, she knew exactly who it was.

"Beaks, what do you think you're doing here?!" Ma Beagle asked in clear frustrated annoyance as Mark Beaks just walked into the dimly lit kitchen.

"Duuuuh! I was bored! And also, you took my phone..."

"Ehhh. Never should brought you here in the first place..." She growled.

...

"HEY! Can't you read the sign, do not feed the foooool?" A deep, menacing, familiar voice suddenly spoke up from the dark corner of the room and as a shadowed figure pointed towards the basement door. Webby immediately knew who it was.

That, evil, cackling, bastard of a duck that carefully and creatively teased her every night, forced her to listen to hours upon hours of loud ironic music, and kept her alive while never giving her a moment of peace for weeks on end.

That, evil, heartless, depraved bastard of a duck, was-

"Starling!"

"Greetings kids. How's things?" He gave them all a devilishly deranged smirk.

"...Aaahhh! A guy!" Beaks was briefly taken back in surprise before quickly recomposing himself in a professional manner.

"Ohhhh nice, okay okay, here we are! I'm Beaks, one of the McDuck Destruct Team managers. Heeeyyy! Nice to meet you!"

"Hey pal, didn't see ya there." He politely shook his hand.

"That's the story of my life..." Webby just buried her face deep into Ma Beagle's shoulder, everything hurt so much.

"...You. What have you done with her?" She asked as she held Webby close to her.

The old masked duck in a cape just smiled, showing off his rows and rows of sharp pointy teeth in pride. He was so proud of himself.

"Let's just say that, her spirit has been, broken..."

Webby just whimpered in response and held herself closer to Ma Beagle. She was somehow the only source of comfort she had to cling onto now, and at least she hadn't tried to hurt her that much, and if she still had the rest of her fingers, she'd be scratching herself so hard right now.

"So, uh. Creepy masked old guy. How's things been with you?" Beaks asked.

"Like- have, have you- uhhh... Aw man. Now- Now this is why I prefer talking to people over the phone. It's just much easier to just bail on the conversation that way."

...

"Oh, not much, just been spending the nights here, while I've been my days over in St. Canard. Checking up, on this, girl. This, little, girl..."

"Okay, cool. Cool cool cool cool cool cool. Wait, you mean like a little little type little girl?"

"Yeeeeppp. Here let me show ya..."

Jim pulled out a printed off scrapbook collection of random photos of an unfamiliar older looking duckling with brown feathers, green eyes, and fiery red hair.

The most peculiar thing about the photos though was not that how unaware she seemed that she was even getting her picture taken in all of them, but how most off the photos were taken in taken in expense of her own privacy.

"You like her?" He asked. "She's nine, Latina, athletic, has just the sweetest disposition. She's got spunk, but she's an orphan."

"She's got no folks, no family, no friends, no nothing! She's all alone in this world. It just, tears at your heartrings. She scares them you know..."

"Wait, who's the THEM we're talking about here?" Beaks asked.

"The hopeful parents." He said. "She scares them. They all expect a sweet little innocent girl, only to get a hockey puck straight to the face. Ha ha ha HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Jim let out a deranged cackle and rubbed his twisted hands together.

"That's my kinda girl. She'll be the perfect sidekick..."

"Y-You forced me to laugh, you forced me to smile, but I was still hurting. I was powerless, I couldn't do anything. And if you had given me the chance, I would have gladly became your fierce one."

The long battered and abused young duckling couldn't stand holding herself back like this anymore. She had been kept from speaking up for so long, all the bile and anger burning up inside her began to spill out in her cold, highly irritable voice.

"Why- WHY DID YOU DO THAT MEEEE?! At least Magica had a reason to hate ME! I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TO YOOUUU! You're awful Starling! You're effing AWFUL!"

"...The name is no longer Starling! Nor, Jim, nor Darkwing DUCK! That man is dead! From this day forward, I will be known as, Negaduck. And it's all thanks to you kid. You should feel proud." The old duck gently stroked his finger underneath her bill with a smirk.

"You were laughing. I was wishing for death, and you were laughing..."

"So uh, what's her name?" Beaks finally asked, not that he was really interested in knowing it or anything.

...

"Gosalyn, Waddlemeyer..." Negaduck replied with a slowly widening smile.

"I even learned a little Spanish so I could talk to her. How's this- How's this?" He pulled out a brightly colored yellow notebook from his jacket and read from it after clearing his throat.

"Buenos días, snookums... Cuerdas demasiado apretadas? Como una bebida? Tal vez un, masaje?"

"...Well, waddayathiiiink?" He asked.

"Yeah, she lives here in the U.S., she can probably understand English." Beaks argued.

"Yep, yep yep yep. Welp! You can never can be too sure. Besides, I like feisty girls better. They scream harder when you break their legs..."

Ma Beagle and Mark Beaks were left speechless.

"...Just kidding." He said as he continued to slowly mangle and dissect an eerily familiar looking remote control apart with his bare hands, and Webby wasn't fine.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUHHHH!" She began to struggle and thrash about wildly again in Ma Beagle's grasp.

"THAT- THAT USED TO BE A PERSON! A PERSOOOOOOON!"

"Relax, it's just a worthless hunk of junk..." She told her to try and calm her down.

"NO! NOOOOO! IT'S A PERSON! A PERSOOOOOOOOOON!"

"Okay, WHOA. Is she like, totally nuts or something?" Beaks asked after backing up a bit in concern for her.

"Why- WHY won't anyone believe ME?! YOU'RE ALL ADULTS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO KNOW BETTER! I AM SMART! I HAVE A CHOICE! I AM MY OWN PERSOOOON! I KNOW WHY! I DON'T CARE! JUST KILL ME YOU COWARDS! KILL ME!"

"...C'mon kid, you're going home. We'll be taking her off your hands now." Ma Beagle began to carry Webby away.

"Be my guest, she won't be much trouble now. Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh." Negaduck let a dark sinister chuckle and lovingly caressed a particularly creepy photo with his finger as literary drooled over it.

"Daddy's coming, girly..."

"NOOO! I don't wanna go home! Don't take me back! Don't take me back! No! NO! NOOOO! You got gun?! A knife?! ANYTHING?! SHOOT ME! STAB ME! THROW ME AGAINST THE WALL! I DON'T CARE! JUST KILL MEEEEE!"

"Man, just what is up with her?" Beaks was now completely dumbfounded at how this McDuck kid was acting.

"Real abuse victims don't act this way. She was probably just brainwashed by Scrooge to think she was hurt so he'd just get more money and attention. She's CLEARLY overreacting!"

Webby suddenly feel silent. She stopped her futile struggling, she stopped her thrashing, she even stopped her crying. Like everything inside her suddenly came to rest, she paused everything and looked aside to the floor with a single, yellow, demonic eye.

"...Don't you get it? I stopped caring about my life a long time ago. No matter what happens to me now, I will always be known as the poor little girl who gave herself up to the witch who tortured her Webby."

"Not world-class adventurer explorer Webby, not best sleepover friend Webby, not even plain ol' boring simple mansion Webby who had a family that loved her Webby. Just the poor little hurt baby girl to be seen with pity Webby."

"Don't you get it? My life is ruined, I'll never be able to move on from this, I have nothing left to live for. My life is ruined, and my pain is, immeasurable."

"My life... is- is over..." She cried softy to herself as she buried her face back into her shoulders

"Aww, it can't be all bad." Beaks reassured her and pulled out his phone he had taken back. "Here, check out this funny DuckTok video with shadow puppets mimed along to this famous popular song I don't know. It's going viral!"

And with that, Webby's face suddenly turned blood red as she began hyperventilating in steaming anger.

"Lena... LENA! LENNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAA!"

...

"Okay, I'm lost. Maybe it was something a little stronger than her being coached by Scrooge. Just what is up with HER?!"

"Her best friend was a shadow..." Ma Beagle quickly explained to him.

"Wait, a shadow?" Beaks paused and then looked back at her in disbelief.

"...Ah ha ha HA, ha ha! That's really funny! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha- AAAAHHHHHH!"

The laughing ignorant tech billionaire was almost immediately tackled flat onto his back as Webby threw herself at him to punch his brains out. She wasn't holding back on him anymore, she was hot under the collar, and fit to be tied.

He had broken Huey's trust, teamed up with Glomgold to try and destroy her and her family, tried to force adorable sweet innocent Fenton to work for him, tried to murder him, ruined his perfect date, was probably an evil spy, and was overall just an incredibly annoying stuck-up ignorant idiot buttface.

Not even an alien invasion fazed him, he deserved to die, and she was ready to kill.

"-aaaaaaAAAAHHHHHH! No no no no no no- AAAAHHHHHH!" Beaks began to tearfully beg and plead for his life as Webby slowly lifted up her shaking fist to punch his lights out.

Her face was now almost completely unrecognizable from what it was once was. Her umbrushed teeth ground together in her bill, her eye was shrunken and heavily focused in rage, and her blood vessels popped out in fury. She screamed at him.

The friendly and easygoing adventurous Webby Vanderquack her friends and family once knew was long gone. All that was left of her now was just an angry, broken, pessimistic, hopelessly irritable, murderous empty shell of her former self.

In an ironic way, Magica De Spell's original plan was a success. Dispite not even being here, she had corrupted her, twisted her into everything she once hated and fought against. Even without brainwashing, the young duckling was lost, completely led astray in her own shattered state of mind. Just what was going on in there?

She lifted her curled up fist to kill him. She wanted to see him die, she wanted to see him suffer in his final moments because of what he did. She was going to kill him.

She- She-

Plop. She collapsed onto Mark Beak's chest in exhaustion. Webby's extreme lack of focus and energy right now had just saved his life.

"I- I thought you were laughing..." She barely managed to say into his shirt.

"Uugghhh! Why isn't this working?!" Ma Beagle groaned loudly in impatience. "She should be asleep by now! She ate every last bite of that burger!"

"Yeah, and they were delicious too." Beaks quickly added as he sat up with Webby still on top of him.

"...You idiot! They had sleeping powder in them! I told you not to eat them!"

Beaks was stunned.

"Wait, then- then why am I still not asleep? I don't feel the least bit tire-" Mark Beaks was instantly cut off as the powder took affect, knocking him and his phone fast asleep on the floor.

"I tried! I can't fall asleep! I can't! It's hopeless! I'll never sleep again! NEVER SLEEP AGAAAAAIN!" Webby writhed and twisted on the floor as she tried to scratch herself with noticeable lack of fingertips.

"THERE'S ONLY ONE ESCAPE! ONE ESCAPE! ONE ESCAAAAAAAAAPPPEEE!"

Despite how much it hurt, Webby leaped to her feet and slammed her head hard against the wall, hoping it would somehow snap her neck. It hurt so much, but she didn't care, she just didn't care. And with a final head-splitting crack in the wall, Webby finally felt something break loose on the inside as her world begin fade.

She had done it. She had finally, f-f-finally-

"It's almost over. It's almost all over. Finally, it's all over. So... nearly..."

"...f-free-"

The young duckling fell unconscious as she slumped over bill down, tail up on the floor, her dismal frown never once leaving her disfigured, dreary face.

"Esssh. For goodness sakes." Ma Beagle scooped Webby's dirty, frail little body up by her shoulders and carefully looked her over, she was still breathing.

"Pine?"

"Reporting for DUTY!" Agent Ammonia Pine stood alone in the dark kitchen doorway.

"Any word from your... uhh, contact?"

"Ready and waiting! But fiiirrst!" The disgruntled F.O.W.L. agent marched forwards and gestured towards Webby with a soapy bucket and mop.

"-iiiick! She's all FILTHY! Just disgusTANG! What she needs, is good ol' fashion SCRUBDOWN!"

"...Eagle?" Ma Beagle asked without even turning around. She knew he was back there, she called it: Beagle's intuition.

"Yeaas?"

"Got your, Gimzosuit?"

"That... And THIIISS!" A short white Eagle in a lab coat held up a lifeless, grey robot boy in hands.

"Meet 2-BO, B.O.Y.D.! The famed killer robot of Dr. Akita! The greatest, most detrimental, fully functioning automatic weapon known to all mankind! And it's mine! All, all MINE!"

"B is for blaze that burns down the whole TOWN! O is for obliter-A-tion! Y is for nooooo..."

"-Can it Eagle. Don't forget who's really in charge here..." Ma Beagle interrupted and just walked past him with Webby safely in her arms.

"HMPH!" Emil huffed. "That HACK Gyro Gearloose, really thought by faking his death, he could escape wrath?! Don't you know who you're up against?! A genius Gearloose! A GENIUS!"

"Hear me you Gearloose! This plan can't possibly fail! Duckburg will bow to my genius, even your own creations will turn against you! And then I, Emil Eagle, will rule the WORLD! Ah-HAAA! Hahahahahahahaaa!"

Ma Beagle just glared angrily at him.

"...I went to college!"

"AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGHH!" Webby suddenly began screaming and bawling her eyes out, tears streamed free down her face and onto her jacket.

"Eehhhhh!" The Eagle immediately dropped B.O.Y.D. to the floor and covered his greatly suffering ears.

"Can someone shut that squalling brat up- FINE THEN! I'll do it myself!" He quickly pulled her away to set her straight.

"No, no! Please! Please! PLEASE! Please just kill me! Please just kill me! PLEASE JUST KILL ME!" Webby cried and blindly kicked about in the air.

Emil smiled wickly. "...Gladly!"

"HOLD IT!" Ma Beagle quickly snatched her safely back.

"Whaaat?! She asked FOR IT!"

"Settle, DOOOWWWWN!"

Webby flinched and held her hands up to her face, unconsciously preparing herself to get hit.

Ma Beagle sighed. "Nobody's going to kill you. It'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine..."

"I underestimated you. I thought Magica was my greatest enemy. But here I am. Beaten, bruised, violated, on the last leg of my life. And yet you won't even let me have me have my final wish." Webby stopped to take a breath.

"You win. You're a better villain than Magica could ever be. You're hurting me more than anyone else ever could. By keeping me alive, making me suffer, making me... making me... Heh. Heh-heh... Heh..."

Webby giggled, finally giving up on the last little bit of sanity she had left. And in that moment, she had truly became, the next Magica De Spell.

"...Y-YOU GUUUUYS HAVE MADE EVERYTHING HORRIBLE FOR ME! YOU'VE ALL BEEN LIVING LIKE KIIIIINGS, WHILE I'VE BEEN WASTING AWAY IN MY OWN CRAAAAAAAAPPPPP! YOU'RE ALL AWFUL! AND I HATE YOOOUUU!"

"UNCLE SCROOOOOOOGE?! GRANNY?! GUUUYYYYS?! WHERE ARE YOOOUUU?! PLEEEEEASSSEEE! SOMEBODY PLEASEEEEE! HELP MEEEEE!"

"WHHHHHHHYYYYY?! WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYY- HHHHHMMMM!" Webby could only sob and lash out helplessly as Ma Beagle finally tied a clean handkerchief around her head and into her bill, only barely muffling her shrill agonizing screams.

Although she felt kinda bad for her, there was no turning back now. The show had to go on.

"We'll all be going now..." Ma Beagle walked past Doofus Drake who had just been standing there watching them in silence with his terrified father. His thick reflective glasses completely hid his dull, expressionless eyes

"Oh. Please do take very good care of her. She's been so terribly stressed lately. Just simply fraught with unease."

"But." Doofus sighed sadly. "That is unfortunately to be expected. This is her very first time after all. And one can never truly understand life, until it grows from deep inside you..."

"MMMMMMM- NO! NOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOO!" Webby forcibly spit out her wet gag from her mouth as she was only held tighter and carried away. She absolutely, did not, want to go home.

"CURSE YOU, JIM STARLING!"

"CURSE YOU, DOOFUS DRAAaaaaKKKEE!"

"CURSE YOU, DE SPEEEEEEEEEEEEELLL!"

"YOU BASTAARDS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST SINGLE ONE OF YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'll KILL YOU AAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!"


	29. The Beast from Within The Other Bin!

"You know, I've been thinking..." Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera finally broke the calm, eerie, windless silence of Duckburg Cemetery at dusk.

"...Good habit. Keep it up." Gyro Gearloose simply encouraged him in a expressionless deadpan manner as he readjusted his reflective spare pair of glasses over his eyes.

The sun was just beginning to set overhead in the cloudless orange sky above. The spooky day of Halloween would be here in only a couple hours, and there was something so unnerving about looking down at your own grave with the thought of yourself somehow lying long dead, only buried for weeks underneath.

Lined up perfectly in a row sat four slightly differing but similar tombstones, all with the same ominous final date carved out at the end of each of them. October 11, 2019.

As far as the world was concerned, Dr. Gyro Gearloose, The Hero of Duckburg Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, the proud moonlander warrior Lieutenant Penumbra, and The Ghost of Manny the Headless Man-Horse, were dead.

"If I'm no longer going to pursue my career as a heavily underpaid underwater lab intern scientist, then what?"

"...Is this just another rhetorical question? What is thi-"

"-Law!" Fenton suddenly interrupted at the last second.

...

"Excuse me. Wha-"

"-Law is an integral part of my family's history." Fenton continued. "All the back to my great great ancestor Sheriff Marshall Cabrera, to my dear sweet M'Ma today!"

"Do you even know it?" Gyro asked, leaving the Latin intern clueless to exactly what he was talking about.

"Know what? What's the it in this, particular frame of reference?"

"Do you even know her full name?" He asked again.

Fenton stood to face him and sighed down to the ground. "...It's María Antonia Magdalena Aldonsa Cabrera okay?"

The two surviving interdimensional time travelers went back to staring down at their graves in silence and respect. Fenton wondering why he had even been caught up in all of this, and Gyro wondering why he had to be laid to rest between two of the most annoying people he ever knew of all people.

"Do you know, what it truly means, to be a lawyer?"

Gyro waited a bit to try and respond.

"...Uh-"

"-It means to always believe in the innocence of your client, and to also help them out and stand up for them in their worst of messes. And when all seems hopeless and that you've reached the final curtain, those are the times when lawyers have to force their biggest smiles!"

Gyro was left indifferent.

"Well that's good and all, but-"

"-I'll..."

"UUUUAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!" Gyro let an agonized frustrated scream and got right up in his instantly terrified intern's face.

"WOULD YOU MIIIIIND?! FOR- FOR JUST- FOR TWO SECONDS?!"

Fenton was stunned, still taken far back in silence at his boss's sudden outburst.

"...I'll study hard, earn my degree, and my badge, and become Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, Defence Attorney at Law! A truce ace of the courtroom."

"OBJECTION!" He held out his left arm and aimed his pointer finger forward.

"Justice, for all..."

...

"Hmm, a lawyer. Who would ever need a- a..."

"A lawyer?" Fenton turned back around to ask. "What's so wrong with a being a lawyer?"

"Ugh, look. Although it pains me to say it, and I hate to admit it, but we really need a Gizmoduck."

"So... Uh, I'm not, completely, disbarred then?" Fenton asked with a nervous, hopeful smile.

"2-BO and the other Gizmosuit are still in the hands of that- unrighteous, piece of..." Gyro paused for a brief second. "Less than human Emil."

"Emil Eagle. He's that... science based, evil inventor villain right?"

"Emil, doesn't, invent!" Gyro suddenly got right back up in Fenton's face. "He's a thief!"

"And with the combined strength and power of the Gimzosuit and 2-BO in the, VICIOUS hands of the that- that FIEND! You know it's bad when I'd rather put my life in your hands-" He quickly reaffirmed for him.

"-We, as a society, are doomed..."

Scrooge McDuck's head scientist opened his eyes and glanced over to a completely unsuspicious older looking duck with glasses minding his own business and tending to the cemetery with a fancy, sliver watering can.

"You, my flowers are wilting. Water them. Do your job." Gyro ordered him before simply walking away.

"I'm a ghost. How did I die?" Manny the Headless Man-Horse clapped after he finished paying his respects and quickly following after him.

"So uh, about this, 2-BO..." Fenton began to say as he left, leaving the older working duck in question to pull his hat from over his eyes and grin darkly at them.

"...Jeeves?"

"Hmmm." A massive, braindead looking well dressed figure in black growled softly in response and slowly emerged from the shadows behind him.

"Follow them." The duck ordered, before quickly realizing that he had been spilling water onto the ground and himself the whole time.

"Ickkk- uh. Got mud all over my- my boot. Jeeves? Jeev- JEEVVVVVVES! Jee-" He paused as his even loyal in death butler handed him a handkerchief without even looking down at him.

"Thank you Jeeves."

The duck took the handkerchief in his hand and began to clean himself off. Unlike his butler, he had been completely rejuvenated. Now decades younger and full of youth, ready and willing to commit every single type of larceny known to man in the name of crooked business.

His name, was John D. Rockerduck.

"Ha-ha! Well we'll see who really waters your flowers after I'm done with- with-" Rockerduck paused, finally taking notice of Manny now staring straight back at him with Magica De Spell's head in silence.

"Greetings. Fellow, ghost." He clapped to him in a friendly sort of ghost greeting way.

...

"What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a man wipe mud off his boots with the help of his giant Frankensteined butler before?" He asked before going straight back to his greatly meticulous shoe shining.

"Sheesh. People these days..."

* * *

"HHHHmmm... HHHHmmm-mmmm..."

"Wait for it, wait for it." Louise held her hand up for everyone in the mansion foyer.

"Uh, Cousin Fethry? What exactly are looking at back there?" Webby asked as she tried to look back at Fethry Duck closely examining her up close and upside down with a magnifying glass.

"Patience please! Patience! A scientist mustn't overlook one tiny, miniscule, detail..." The eccentric former Junior Woodchuck went right back to looking Webby over in her portable little bathtub, moving down lower on her tail, and somehow making her feel even more violated.

"...I feel like he's looking at my butt. Why is he looking at my butt? Please ask him why he's looking at my butt."

Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body sighed. "Cousin Fethry, why are you looking at Webby's butt?"

"Aren't mermaids just like, an upper body, with a fish tail attached?" Dewey in Launchpad's body asked.

"BLUUAAAGHAHHPTH!" Della retches violently offscreen.

...

"Mermaids don't have butts or buttcheeks since they don't need to sit down. The whole part below the waist is a fish, and like a fish, they just have a multifunctional hole. This is common knowledge." Violet simply stated.

"...I believe you still lack hindquarters Webbigail." She confirmed for her aquatic bound friend with a nod.

"UGH!" Louise groaned while still very much chained wrist to wrist close beside her. "Could we please have more intelligent conversations HERE?"

"HHHHmmm..."

Fethry paused to touch his tongue to his finger and press it gently against Webby's scaly tail, and she unsurprisingly didn't seem too happy about it.

"Did he just lick me? I feel like he just licked me. Why did he just lick me?"

"Ah! It's a tail. Nice one Girl Kid." Fethry came to his final conclusion and stepped back in success after forcibly plopping his scruffy looking red stocking onto a very much confused Webby's head to keep it healthy and warm.

"There." Louise finally let her hand drop.

"Oh C'MON!" Webby complained from underneath her new, totally not adorable headwear.

"Come'ere little Donalds! It's feels so great to see you all again!" Fethry smiled, quickly gathering Mrs. Beakley, Launchpad, and Louise all together into a tight family hug. He was still completely clueless to all their mixed-up current situations.

"Awww! Totally not awkward cousin hugs!" Launchpad in Dewey's body just hugged him back.

"Mrs. B, should we tell him?" Dewey asked.

"In his fragile innocent state of mind?" Webby's grandmother in Huey's heavily untrained body asked as well.

"Please." Louise agreed while just letting herself fall limp in her cousin's arms. "I will always choose the bliss of ignorance, over the agony of knowledge..."

"...Subverted Wayne Gerard Trotterman, brilliant British author and quoteist look him up."

"Excuse me. How dare you?" Violet didn't even try to hide the fact of how offended she was.

...

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

"UHHH! Uncle Scroooog- Waaahh-" Della Duck fell flat onto his brother's face and she ran into the foyer to get the door.

"Ughhh! Dumb Donald, and his- dumb luck!" She quacked angrily and threw the front door open, only to be immediately greeted by tall slender stranger wearing a monster clown mask over his face while towering high over her.

"Boo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!"

Della was unimpressed.

"...Awww, it's just Goofy! Wait, it's Goofy?!"

"Hiya fellers. Happy Halloween!" The stranger pulled his mask off his face and walked in with an unfamiliar costumed child clinging onto his back. Yet dispite giving everyone the same big friendly smile he gave everyone on a daily basis, no one in the foyer said a word to him.

Huey, Dewey, Louise, Violet and Webby didn't know what to say. Just who was this, Goofy?

"Hmmm. Something seems different about ya. New shirt?" The stranger rubbed his chin as he carefully looked over Della trapped in his old friend's body.

"...No Goofy." She replied in her brother's barely comprehensible scratchy voice.

Fethry gasped and quickly waddled up to the two of them.

"Is this, tall and distinguished most charming and intuitive young gentlemen... a close friend of yours?" He asked.

"YEP, he SHORE is!" The stranger let out a peculiar laugh mixed with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Nice to meet'cha pal! I'm Goofy!"

"F-Fethry Duck! Also Cousin Fethry! People say that I'm a little goofy too!" Fethry shook his gloved hand.

"Well now. Huh-huh-huh-Huuuh!" Goofy laughed as he began to rub and pat him on the head. "He's just like one of the family!"

"Yes. Just... pat me. It stimulates the sleeping brain cells." A smile spread across Fethry's bill as he closed his eyes.

"A-hyuck! Huh-huh-huh-Huuuh! Rise and shine! Wake up in there little fellers!"

"Oh they're so perfect for each other..." Louise somehow felt a wave of overwhelming peace and calmness all of the sudden. Like everything in her dark dangerous stressful world of danger was somehow going to end up okay.

"...Daddy daddy daddy daddy! Can we see a ghost? Can we see a ghost? Can we can we can we can we?" The child clinging tightly onto Goofy's back suddenly made her presence known in overly excited joy.

She was wearing what looked like a cross between a set of jet black pajamas and a Halloween costume with cat ears and tail. Her bright orange pigtails hung down from each sides of her hoodie.

And in a twirl of grey ethereal smoke, Duckworth appeared in the foyer with a smile to greet the guests.

"Mr. Ghoooossttt!" She was delighted, while Fethry just gasped loudly at the sight of her in similar excitable joy.

"And you've got a kid TOO?! WOW! What will he do next?! Run for mayor, catch counterfeiters, become a rocket scientist?! I don't KNOW! Probably!"

"Uh Goofy, I'd hate to pry too much into your personal life, but who's the kid?" Della asked in an awkward tone of voice.

"Huh? Oh! When my old pal Pete and his wife died, and since she didn't have anywhere else to go, I arranged for her to come live with me!" He explained.

"Everyone, meet Pistol!" Goofy up held his newly adopted five year old daughter for everyone to see.

"Daddy daddy daddy! Lookie lookie lookie, it's a ghost, it's a ghost, ghost!"

"Isn't she sweet?" She cuddled against her daddy's face like an overly attached kitten, yet Della was still very much unimpressed.

"Hmmm, yeah. Sweet as a..."

"Wait, they literally named their own daughter, Pistol?" Louise asked.

"And that's supposed to be bad?" Dewey began. "Uncle Donald literally named you Ll-"

"DEWFORD!" Louise quickly silenced her much taller, crash-happy older brother by pulling him down to her face.

"Not, a, woooooord..."

...

"Hello there, Della!" Goofy waved to Donald as he suddenly trudged through the foyer on his sister's prosthetic leg.

"Wakkk?! GOOFYYY?!" He jumped back and swung his arms around in surprise. It had been years since he had last seen or heard anything from him.

"Sure is! And knowing how much you loved Halloween and all, I thought that I- Ya know, somethin' just don't feel quite right..."

"Awww. Nothing ever is right."

"Well, what's the matter? Something bothering ya?" Goofy asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"...Family problems." Donald muttered as he laid the side of his sister's head against the wall in defeat.

"Huh?" Goofy scratched his head in thought. "You mean... a bad guy?"

"Who's bothering ya this time? Argus McSwine? Merlock? Azure Blue? Countess Leïla? Mortimer?"

"Whoa. Okay, uh. Not- far as behind as I first thought..." Louise slowly backed away.

Donald just shifted against the wall. The past month had been quite the mess of a hurricane for him and his family, and he just wanted it to end. Dispite countless enemies, to literal gods plotting against his family, there was still one haughty villain in particular who always seemed to go farther than all the others.

Gleefully terrorizing children just to watch them cower in fear before her, to harassing and manipulating members of her own family to further her grim plans of vengeance, nothing was to low for her to stoop down to.

Not even Glomgold and Lunaris could match up to her decades worth of vile trickery and treachery. This was just his luck, oh why couldn't they just have normal family problems?

"...De Spell." He quacked her forbidden surname in his sister's tired voice without even bothering to blink.

"Oh, well if that's all." Goofy was givin a brief moment relief before quickly recognizing that horrible, familiar, feared name.

"Duh- DE SPEEELLLL?!"

Click-click.

The slightest quiet sounds of writing could be heard as Scrooge McDuck and Fenton's mother Officer Cabrera stood outside, the two of them looking very solemn on the doorstep.

"UHH! UNCLE SCROOGE?!"

Completely ignoring his niece's concerned plea, the old duck finished signing some important papers and then tipped his hat to the Officer as she gave him a look of genuine sympathy and prepared to leave. None of them said a single word to each other.

"Uh, Uncle Scrooge? Uncle... Scrooge?" Della was starting to get worried, this was far from a good sign.

With a low sigh, Scrooge stepped inside the manor and closed the door behind him. Standing his cane upright on the floor, he lowered his eyes to his family.

"...Webbigail's gone."

Dewey gasped in shock. "She died?!"

"What? N-No! We just couldn't find her. They searched the mansion from top to bottom, but there was no sign of her! Well, actually. There was ONE, sign of her..." Scrooge paused to stick his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, green, sickly looking feather from it.

"Wait? Magica's feathers are green again?" Dewey asked after taking a look at the sad little deteriorating thing. "I thought she was supposed to be a living skeleton."

"It's Webbigail's." Scrooge said.

Dewey and Webby both gasped back in shock and unison.

"Wait, really?" She asked.

"They found it in a room down in the basement. It was covered all over with-" The old duck finally took notice of Pistol and Goofy standing amongst his family in the foyer.

"Wait. Should we, really be discussing this in front of the, random small child?"

"...Hello there, Uncle Scrooge! Y'all got anything to eat?" Goofy asked.

Mrs. Beakley sighed. "Bowl of fruit in kitchen, down the hall to the left."

"A-hyuck! Huh-huh-huh-Huuuh! Thanks! Whoa-oooa-oooa-oooah!" CRASH! Goofy tripped far out of sight as he comically stumbled away while losing his balance as if he was suddenly walking on slippery grease.

"...Don't worry! Nothing's broke! A-hyuck!"

...

"Duckworth, take the young lass on a tour through the mansion or underworld or something. Hades gets awfully lonesome this time of the afteryear."

"Very good sir." Scrooge's faithful butler took up his coattails and Pistol by the scruff of her neck to carry her away.

"Woooo-ooo!" She cheered. "Death! Death! Death!"

"Ugh, kids." Louise just looked at her with pity.

"They found it in a room down in the basement. It was covered all over with feces and urine."

"Wait? What's feces?" Dewey asked.

"Poop Dewford." Violet bluntly told him.

"Oh. Wait WHAT?! Ewww..."

"...Well, uhhh. What- happened to Doofus?" Webby asked while still looking a little disgusted.

"Did the police tackle him and taze him to the floor and all that good stuff? This may be one of the few times I completely endorse police brutality."

"He's been put in juvenile detention." Scrooge explained. "His mother is nowhere to be found, while his father has been intensive care."

"HA! Sevres him right! He can rot in there forever for all I care!"

"WEBBY!" Her grandmother scoled her.

"Oh, sorry. I was talking about Doofus." Webby had almost completely forgotten that she was much more Huey than Granny at the moment.

"Wait, what happened to everyone else there then? There were a lot more than just Magica and Doofus there. Creepy masked old Darkwing Duck zombie guy, not really that edgy magical sorcerer, a definitely real turned evil robot boy, a goddess, Ma Beagle..."

"Wait... MA BEAGLE?!" Scrooge was shocked. "That- slanderous swindler was there too?!"

"Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yeah, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys were working with Magica too."

"How does working with Magica even benefit her Uncle Scrooge?" Dewey asked. "What's she even after?"

"The Deed to Duckburg..." Webby held a curled up fist to her chest as if she had just finished a dark, winding monologue. "I think she also kinda, wants us all to burn in heck too."

"...Well, what do we do now?" Dewey asked. "Poor Webby could be in any of the hundreds of places we already checked. It could take us literally forever to find her!"

"Huh. If only there was SOMETHING we had close, and underground, per se, that could help us find out WHERE, she is..." Huey rubbed shoulders up against Scrooge and held his hands together in a coyish, innocent manner.

"What are you doing?" He asked in suspicion and mild annoyance.

"Giving you a HINT..."

"Lad, how did you find out?"

"Wait. We actually do have something like that then?" Dewey wondered.

For the longest while, Scrooge said nothing, absolutely not looking like he was looking forward to what was coming next.

"What is it?" Dewey asked.

"Not what. Whom..."

* * *

...

"Years ago, before I even started my very first businesses in Duckburg, the construction crew for me Money Bin dug up something grand from the dig site. An embellished, ancient, golden mirror."

"Despite being buried deep within rock and sand, it was in almost perfect, untouched from the harsh elements condition. I could barely even believe it, I thought it was too good to be true, and I should have known better to trust my first instincts."

"Because after I brought it home to inspect and clean it off, it nearly made me bust a bagpipe. The blasted THING spoke."

"It said he was a limitlessly powerful otherworldly entity, beyond any and all of our mortal comprehensions. And that he was defeated, cast out from his dimension to return in our own."

"But it said he was remorseful, that I was the first person to dig him up, and that he wanted to reform. To offer up his powers for the good of all humanity. Use it's infinite wisdom and knowledge of our world for our benefit. And also, spoke something of purchasing gold, illusions, and other such cryptic nonsense..."

"But I easily saw through his trickery, it wasn't to be trusted. It was a beast, an ancient evil, a complete monster."

"It seemed that it couldn't do any substantial harm to our world as long as it was trapped within the golden frames of it's glass prison. So when The Other Bin was completed, I locked it away, safe from the unsuspecting world above. That beast hasn't seen the light of day ever since..."

"So, that taught you all never to deal with dark magical forces you shouldn't trust and couldn't possibly comprehend right?"

...

"Are you kidding? Entities? Ancient evils? Cryptic nonsense?! This is all straight up Dewey's alley!" Dewey pushed straight past his Uncle Scrooge to the door of room 0326 in dimly light hall of The Other Bin.

"But I- I just said-"

"Fair try." Louise waved his Uncle off as she, Violet, Huey, Donald, Della, Cousin Fethry, Launchpad, Goofy eating banana, and Mrs. Beakley pushing her granddaughter along in her portable bathtub followed soon after.

"AhHA!" In a thrill seeking burst of energy, Dewey flung open the door and ran towards the end of the chamber, only to find exactly what his Uncle Scrooge had described to all of them, an oversized, golden, floor mirror.

The duckling slowed down to a discouraged crawl, suddenly looking very disappointed as it's not so threatening regal appearance fully sunk in.

"Wait, this is what you were so afraid of?" Dewey asked as he put his hand on the side of it and looked back to his family. "It's a just a mirror."

_"...HEY THERE NERDS!"_

"AAAAAAAUUUGGHH?!"

Dewey jumped back defensively as a high-pitched, jovial male voice rang out loudly from inside it. But it didn't sound anything like a normal person at all. It was crazy and unhinged, almost like it was literally yelling every single syllable it spoke.

_"HEH HEH HA HA HA! SORRY THERE MONEYBAGS! 22, QUACKSTER, DIPPY, THRID ONE, SLIDE RULER! RED BAT! LONG TIME ALL SEE!"_

Everyone but Scrooge himself was left utterly speechless. Stepping forward, he stood up with his cane beside to the mirror.

"Alright beast, we don't have time. Give them all the usual rundown..."

 _"SURE THING! HEY THERE FOLKS, PRY OPEN YOUR EYES AND EARS AND LISTEN WELL!"_ The old duck's reflection in the mirror suddenly gained a mind of it's own as it's eyes turned bright yellow and acted out in the beast's highly animated will.

"AS YOUR RICH UNCLE MONEYBAGS HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU, FOR ONE TRILLION YEARS I'VE BEEN TRAVELING THE MULTIVERSE IN MY QUEST FOR WISDOM, ADVENTURE, FORTUNE, AND GLORY."

_"FROM MY HOME OF THE FLAT MINDED 2ND DIMENSION, TO THE NIGHTMARE REALM, TO DIMENSION 46'\, AND FINALLY, TO YOUR DIMENSION."_

_"IN A DIFFERENT FORM, IN A DIFFERENT TIME, TO OFFER UP MY POWERS AND INFINITE KNOWLEDGE TO YOU ALL, TO ATONE FOR THE PAST SINS I'VE COMMITTED AGAINST HUMANITY..."_

_"UNTIL THEN, YOU CAN CALL ME THE GOLDEN INFINITY PASSAGE TO THE EVER-EXPANDING MINDSCAPE. HIYA!"_ He tipped his hat off to them.

"...Excuse me, a word." Louise quickly pulled everyone aside into a huddle. "Uncle Scrooge is right. I know a con when I see one. Take it from a professional, he's obviously lying."

"Well, he certainly seems knows a lot about sin." Goofy mentioned in slightly noticeable, southern draw.

 _"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WHISPERING ABOUT BACK THERE DECOYS?"_ The beast asked in a darker, much more suspicious tone of voice.

"Nothing that sounds this good comes without a price. It's just a trick to get something from us or something!"

_"I CAN HEAR STILL HEAR YOOOOOOOOUUUU..."_

"Just watch. Hey uh, what is it that you say you do again?" Louise asked as she walked up closer to it while simply dragging Violet sitting down behind her. Both of them had grown quite accustomed to this.

_"OH, I DO LOTS OF THINGS. LOTS OF TH- WAIT..."_

"Just now, you called yourself The Golden Infinity Passage to the Ever-Expanding Mindscape. Yeah, just what is that? That, mindscape?"

 _"...HEH HEH HA HA HA! OH I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!"_ The beast held his hands together in great delight.

_"THE MINDSCAPE IS THE PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL MANIFESTATION OF A PERSON'S MOST INNER MIND. LOCATED DEEP INSIDE ARE A PERSON'S PERSONALITIES, QUIRKS, TRAIN OF THOUGHT, ANTHROPOMORPHIC PERSONIFICATIONS OF THIER EMOTIONS, AND MEMORIES LOCKED AWAY SAFELY IN THE WINDING HALLS OF LONG-TERM STORAGE."_

"That's it! Her memories!" Webby finally spoke up.

"Do you think we could see someone else's memories, or maybe just talk to them and ask where she is? Kinda like the tiny voices inside your head? Do you think we could do that?!" She asked excitedly while hardly being able to contain herself.

_"HEH HEH HA HA HA! SURE! JUST TELL ME THIS PERSON'S NAME AND I CAN TAKE YOU TO IT EASY! ALL I NEED IS SOMETHING OFF YOUR CHOSEN MARK'S PERSON."_

_"AN EYEBROW, A TOENAIL..."_

"A feather?" Webby asked as she pulled out the sickly green wet feather her Uncle Scrooge had given her earlier.

 _"HEH HEH HA HA HA!"_ The beast laughed. _"SURE THING! A FEATHER WOULD DO NICELY! JUST, HAND IT OVER, AND YOU DUCKS GOT YOURSELVES GOT A DEAL."_ The reflection stuck his hand through the glass to accept the little feather.

"Hold it." Louise quickly held Webby's hand back. "If Uncle Scrooge was the first person that dug you up, and you need something off a person to enter thier mindscape, how exactly did you know what to expect in there?"

The beast remained eerily silent and expressionless in it's prison.

"What was exactly are you playing at here?" She gave it an accusing look.

_"...LISTEN CADDIE. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES, AND I DON'T BREAK THEM EITHER. MY POWERES ARE NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY! WITHOUT THAT FEATHER, YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. AND YOU WOULDN'T WANT YOUR LITTLE FRIEND TO DIE ALL ALONE AND SAD WOULD YOU?"_

The handcuffed pair of friends backed away as the beast pressed his bill hard against the glass and began to glow in a flickering blue flame in held back anger.

It was just a little unnerving to see Scrooge McDuck of all people look so unhinged and completely demonic over something seemingly insignificant as a feather.

...

"Alright. Her name is- Webby Vanderquack." Louise gave in.

_"HMMM. LET'S SEE. WEBBY VANDERQUACK. WEBBY VANDERQUACK, WEBBY VANDERQUAAAAAACK... AH! WEBBY. YES, CUTE NAME."_

_"NOW, WHICH MINDSAPE WOULD YOU THIRSTY LITTLE PERVERTS LIKE TO ENTER?"_ The beast asked in mocking unmatched glee.

_"THE ONE INSIDE THE CLEVER LITTLE SLIDE RULER SITTING RIGHT BESIDE YOU? THE ONE WITH SHATTERED BROKEN DREAMS THAT'S BEEN OVERTAKEN BY SWIRLING DARK SHADOWS? OR THE ONE THAT'S BEEN SET FREE FROM THIER SHACKLES OF CONFINEMENT WITH BIG PLANS TO GET WEIRD AND TURN OF ALL KNOWN EXISTENCE ON IT'S HEAD?"_

Nobody in the hidden underground chamber knew what to say.

_"TAKE YOUR PICK! I'M NOT FUSSY!"_

"...Excuse me, we're not perverts!" Violet argued.

"Wait, three?! How can there be three?"

 _"EH HEH HEH HA HA HA HA!"_ The beast just laughed at Dewey's hilariously high level of dumbness. _"DO THE MATH BRAINIAC! ONE, TWO, THREE! THREE MINDCSAPES FOR THREE WEBBY VANDERQUACK'S! HEH HEH HA HA HA! SERIOUSLY, HOW DUMB CAN YOU BE?"_

"Whoa... THREE WEBBYS?!" Webby's eyes grew wide from underneath her mind-warming stocking.

"THERE'S THREE OF ME NOW?!"

She was still feeling quite a bit loopy from her half traumatizing trip through time and her serious lack of sleep, and yet things were only getting crazier and crazier.

Two Webby's and most of her family being magically mixed-up the way they were was just about as crazy and weird as her own poor mindscape could handle, and now there was a third of her?!

This wasn't even her own universe. Everyone in it died she thought, and her friends and family she loved and cherished didn't even belong to her, they belonged to her lost double. Could things possibly get even worse? Just what the HECK was going on?!

"Well, who's the third one then?" Dewey finally asked. "Is it somehow possible that's there's another unrelated person out there also named Webby Vanderquack?"

"Not a chance..." Mrs. Beakley said.

 _"...TICK TOCK. CLOCK IS TICKING KID."_ The reflection held his hand out again as it burned alive in the fiery inferno.

Louise signed and handed the beast the feather. "The one with shattered broken dreams and that's been taken over by swirling dark shadows. What else would it be? And it's a just feather. What possible harm could come from a innocent little feather?"

 _"OH, YOU'D NEVER KNOW KID..."_ The beast smiled devilishly at her.

"Wait, what?"

_"BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE FAIR TO WARN YOU. THE NATURAL BORN LAWS OF PHYSICS AND REALITY CEASE TO EXIST WITHIN THE EVER EXPANDING REALM OF THE MINDCSAPE. IT MIGHT BE DANGEROUS."_

"Dangerous?" Launchpad suddenly perked up again in excitement.

 _"AND THERE'S A VERY, VERY, VERY HIGH CHANCE OF YOU SEEING SOMTHING YOU'D SOON REGRET... ANYWAY! BEST OF LUCK!"_ The other Scrooge McDuck began to slowly float backwards into a rapidly spinning golden pentagram of otherworldly magical energy.

_"REMEMBER, THE EARTH IS A SHAM, ONE OF YOU IS NOT WHO THEY SEEM! SEE YOU DUCKS ON THE INSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!"_

The mysterious beast tiped his hat one final time as the gate through the mirror opened up, finally stabilizing the swirling passageway into silent, thick darkness.

"Essh. What a character..." The real Scrooge McDuck said under his breath.

"Dangerous?" Launchpad grinned like a vigilante obsessed duckling madman.

"You mean, who's that cunning mind behind that shadowy disguise kinda dangerous?" He asked.

"Launchpad..." Scrooge began to say.

"...What we need is, Darkwing Duc-"

"Launchpad, please. Not know."

"Wait, we're actually going to do this?" Webby asked in quickly growing excitement. "We're actually going to enter the mind of my younger sister expect actually my younger twin self through possibly demonic MEANS?!"

She gasped and held her hands to sides of head.

"Finally, a real adventure! Oh wait, forgot. No legs, can't breathe without water." She sighed and hung her arms out the side of her little carrier. "This seems to be my fate. Stuck as a waterridden adventureless merperson for all eternity."

"I could carry you. I'd be your wingman." Dewey gestured to himself with a smile.

"Dewford, do you even know what that is?" Louise just gave him a weird look.

"Thanks Dewey. But without water..."

"Right! I just remembered. Here." Her Uncle Scrooge handed her a small paper box with writing on it.

"Wait, what's this?" She asked after looking it over.

"Aqua-Chew. A nutrient survival taffy that provides a continuous supply of liquid as long as you chew it."

"Mmmmmm." Webby took out a piece and put it in her mouth to chew it. "Tastes like sea salt... I LOVE IT!"

"...Whhhaaaattt?!" Della exclaimed in a combination of horror and fuming anger. "She gets sea salt?! While I was stuck on the moon with black licorice for the past ten stinking YEARS?!"

...

"I deserve this..." Webby held her valuable pack of gum close to her.

"Just a minute, you children are in no way going unsupervised. I'm going with you. As it seems there's no way to talk any of you out of this." Mrs. Beakley said.

Her excited in even possible death granddaughter just gasped again.

"A Webby, HueyGranny, mindscaping demonic Halloween spy adventure?! YESSS! This just keeps getting better and better!"

"Well you can count me and Vi out." Louise began. "As temping as it sounds, it just doesn't appeal. Especially the whole dangerous part, wanting to avoid all of that."

"Aww c'mon guys, come with us. It'll be fun!" Webby offered.

"Nope! We'll be taking Lena home for the night. Here, take Huey instead. Sounds more than nerdy enough for a true nerd like him to enjoy."

"Well... If you insist." Huey quietly accepted his fate, dispite him actually freaking out on the inside.

"I'mmmmm REAAAADY!" Out of nowhere, Fethry pulled out a scuba mask and harpoon gun with a plunger attached to the end of it. "Your Cousin Fethry's in too!"

"You sure you'll all be alright in there?" Scrooge asked. "I still wouldn't put all my faith in that, beast's words..."

"Your Uncle is right." Mrs. Beakley began. "We'll mark our path back with string. If things ever get too perilous, we immediately head back and try another approach. We are not losing any more members of this family over this."

"Oh c'mon guys. If you're just going prepare for failure like this, then what's the point of even trying?" Dewey asked.

"We've dealt with demons, curses, wrathful gods, plane crashes, dozens upon of dozens traumatic near death experiences and heart removing sacrifices. Honestly, it's a miracle that we all don't have crippling PTSD yet."

"We don't?" Violet suddenly spoke up.

"Wait what?" Dewey questioned aloud.

The young hummingbird sighed and pushed herself past him and up to Webby still in her carrier. "Observere."

"Wait Violet? What are you-"

"My apologies Webbigail." Violet apologized and began her incantation. Her expression quickly changed from a stoic but observant stare, to an unnatural downwards gaze filled with dark malevolent malice.

She cackled, holding her fingers upwards into claws while perfectly imitating Magica De Spell's all too familiar vengeful speech patterns.

"From the pit of bile and darkness I rise, free from the binds of shadows puppets to this lowly guise, holding still your untimely DEMISSSEEEE!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaAAAHHH?!" Dewey and Webby hugged each other tightly in fear.

"VILOEEEEEET?!"

"WHAT IN ALL THE BLAZES-" Scrooge quickly held her up by her arms to try and hold her back without hurting her. Even if it was Magica on the inside, he still didn't want to harm her because of it.

"No worries." Violet immediately went back to normal and pulled a clove of garlic out from under her shirt. "Garlic weakens De Spell's growing influence over us. I suggest you keep some close to you at all times to keep something like this from ever happening. You all should be very careful, please put me down..."

Huey, Dewey and Webby were stunned while Louise just grinned proudly to herself. Violet was coming along just fine.

"Okay. Is anyone else but me terrified right now?" Dewey asked.

"Point proved." Huey quickly added.

"Yeah, you taught her well." Webby agreed with a slow sincere nod.

"...Well we've still never dealt with anything like this before. We're taking every single necessary procaution. Stay close to me, don't wonder off."

"You heard your Granny. This is far from a normal adventure, you can't be sure what to expect. Keep together, stay alert, and follow her EVERY order."

"Yes Uncle Scrooge." Dewey and Webby said together, while Huey followed customary procedure without even thinking.

"Yes-s-s sir..." He stood at attention in respect as the group prepared to leave.

"...Wait. I know it kinda makes sense if there's somehow two of same person. But would happen if somebody tried to enter thier OWN mindscape this way?" Webby pondered.

...

"Best not to overthink it. JUST BE SURE NOT TO DIE!" Louise yelled backwards as she waved goodbye and left with Violet.

"We will! Don't stay up for us! We'll be back in two shakes of a fish tail!"

"BLUUAAGHPTH!" Della could barely hold in her dinner this time.

"...Sorry!" Webby quickly apologized.

"See you fellers later! HAVE FUN!" Goofy waved goodbye while accidentally dropping his used banana peel to the floor right in front of himself as he took a step forward. And at that moment, all manner of heck began to break loose in The Other Bin. Oh why couldn't they just have normal family problems?

"Whoa-ooo-ooo-oooah-WHOA-OOOOOO-OOOOOO-" He slipped and slid all around the chamber at cartoonishly high speeds.

"Oh no!" Donald froze solid in place. Noting his past decades of misey and misfortune, and knowing just how much Lady Luck was against him, he knew well enough that this wasn't going to end well.

He tried to dodge to the side, he tried to escape his sudden adventure's calling, but only got himself caught up in Goofy's wild barrage in process. It didn't matter if he stood still, or if he just tried to run for it. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, gave misfortune after grace misfortune followed him everywhere.

The universe was definitely plotting against him, everything in it hated him and was just out to get him, that was the only possible explanation. And now he was heading straight towards that doggone crazy golden mirror with poor Launchpad and the kids directly in their path.

"Aaaahhhhh! He's crashing!" The pilot screamed out in Dewey's voice as they plowed right into him and getting him stuck up against Donald's face. And Huey, Dewey, Webby, Beakley, and Fethry were up next.

He may have thought he was done with adventure, but adventure obviously wasn't done with him. This was just his luck. Why oh why couldn't they just have normal family problems?

"Whoa-ooooh-ooooh-oooah-WHOAAA-"

"-AAAAAAAHHH!"

"No no no no no no NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Everything grew silent as the eight mindscapers were thrown deep into the mirror, leaving only Scrooge and Della alone in the now eerily quiet chamber. The soft rustling of the wind blowing through the tress could be heard from above.

"Kids! Beakley! Uh, everyone!"

"Well, as long Mrs. B is with them, they should all be okay right?" Della asked in quickly growing concern for them.

"R-Right. I'm sure they'll all be... Wait what?" Scrooge paused after noticing something out of place and peculiar lying on the chamber floor.

Picking it up and looking it over, the two of them were left puzzled to what exactly they were seeing. It looked like a piece of dry, flakey, multicolored shedded skin.

"...What the devil?"


End file.
